A Green Flamed Torch
by Richan MMI
Summary: Something's afoot in the Ministry, and things are about to get even stranger than normal for Harry and his friends as they return for their sixth year at Hogwarts. OotP spoilers. Slash.
1. Chapter 1

The Green Flame Torch

by Richan

Summary: Something's afoot in the Ministry, and things are about to get even stranger than normal for Harry and his friends as they return for their sixth year at Hogwarts

Warnings: Spoilers for OotP, slash, character death, angst, fluffiness, etc, etc.

Pairings: SB/HP pre-slash. If you don't like it, don't read it. It will get more into the slash bit about halfway through this story. Other pairings will crop up later.

Notes: This is my answer to reading Order of the Phoenix. If you haven't read it, please turn back now. This story will be updated every two weeks, alternating Tuesdays with when I upload Gifts.

Harry abruptly sat up, sweat running in rivulets down sopping wet hair and hot cheeks. His eyes felt horribly swollen from the crying he must have done in his dream.

Why did he have to dream about Sirius now? He had thought he had settled a bit now that he had been in Privet Drive for almost a month.

Harry pulled on his glasses and looked around his room, eyes resting on Hedwig's empty cage for a brief moment before moving to the picture he had set up on his desk. In it, Sirius and Remus were waving at the camera, as they ran from an angry James, whose hair was a bright green. He had found it in his photo album and set it up on advice from Lupin.

It had hurt so terribly looking at the picture at first, and even now it still stung.

Why did he have to fall behind that stupid veil? And why hadn't Harry tried harder at that Occlumency thing, even if Snape was one of the greatest bastards he'd ever known. Because that's what tore Harry up the most, was his own failure to correct the situation in the making.

Tearing his eyes away, he looked at the small pile of birthday gifts he had left on his desk early this morning before dragging himself to bed. Hermione had sent him a book on aurors. Harry had written back a thank you note, but couldn't bring himself to tell her that he didn't think he wanted to be an auror anymore. Ron, on the other hand, had sent him something he could use - he had been scouting out number 12 Grimmauld Place and found out that his dad and a couple members of the order had managed to wrangle Fudge into saying that Harry's quidditch ban, as well as the rest of Umbridge's stupid 'Educational Decrees' were null and void. Of course, what was the icing on top of that was Ron saying that Umbridge had been seen talking to herself in Diagon Alley, muttering about horsehair. Other than that, Ron had promised that Harry's physical present was waiting for him at headquarters for when he arrived.

Twelve days from now, though, Harry would have to force himself to step into his godfather's old house. For once he was glad to stay with the Dursleys, especially if it meant ripping open the wounds that had just scabbed over. Even if 'the big D' was a pain in the arse.

Shaking his head, he let his thoughts drift to the present that Lupin had sent him besides the picture. It wasn't much, since Harry knew he hadn't had work since leaving Hogwarts, but it *was* the thought that counted in this case. Aside from confessing that the older man missed his friend terribly, he had included several stories about their students days in which they hadn't been torturing Snape. Most were from when the boys had been learning how to become animagi, and so involved horribly transfigured limbs and Harry's own father having to wear a set of antlers in human form for four hours before they could figure out what went wrong. This was a treasure that he savored, and he had already read the parchment so many times it looked quite old.

Harry finally pulled himself out of his thoughts and his bed as he heard movement down the hall in his aunt and uncle's bedroom. While Moody's threats had worked on Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia had taken a different approach to Harry that he found disconcerting. At times she would be very cloying, then abruptly switch to ignoring him totally for the rest of the day. It wasn't very consistent, so Harry was never sure what she would be like when he ventured downstairs. Her behavior, while confusing sometimes to the extreme, seemed like she couldn't decide whether or not she should care about her only nephew.

A noise at the window distracted him for a moment, and he turned to watch as Hedwig flew in through the curtains Aunt Petunia had put in the other day. The snowy owl landed softly on Harry's shoulder and gave a quick, affectionate nibble to his ear, before moving over to the stand Harry had erected beside his desk. Harry gave her a smile, before frowning at the pile of homework he still had to complete.

He had been surprised at the results from the OWLs, so much that he'd sworn in front of the Dursleys - which, if it had happened even the summer before would have resulted in the locked door again - when the tawny owl appeared at the breakfast table three days before his birthday. With the results had been the homework assignments for summer, including a torturous length of potions essay to complete that Harry just knew Snape gave out because he was in advanced potions. Snape would have to be sadistic like that.

Still, he was impressed by how well he'd done, though he thought that on the Astronomy OWL every one of them had done well. All of those on the turret had been distracted by the attack on Hagrid, and subsequently on McGonagall. Not counting that, he'd gotten ten OWLs, which was very good indeed, even if it was compared to Hermione's twelve.

But it didn't count for very much in his eyes. He'd had no one to really share in the good news, like any of his friends did. When he'd gotten his results, he had wanted to write to Sirius right away, to tell him how well he'd done on his OWLs.

And then he remembered. He remembered that look of fear and surprise on his godfather's face as he fell backwards into the veil. He remembered wanting so desperately to go after Sirius when he disappeared, and wanting to hurt Lupin for stopping him.

Harry ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, glasses pushed onto his forehead, wishing for one moment that he could have done something different, to stop it before it all started. He knew he couldn't, but it didn't stop him from wishing all the same. He settled himself back onto his bed, waiting for Aunt Petunia's call to help make breakfast.

It wasn't until Harry had almost fallen asleep that night when he remembered something Dumbledore had said about the Department of Mysteries. Admittedly, he couldn't remember all of what he'd been saying, given just how angry Harry had been. Still, Dumbledore had said that behind the locked door - the one Harry had wanted to open - lay a power that Harry had.

Power that he had? Why hadn't Harry known such a thing?

The question that most interested Harry, as he made himself comfortable once more on the verge of sleep, was how could he use that power to rescue Sirius?

******

Benedictine Marl had worked for the Ministry, first as an Auror and then an Unspeakable, for in the fifteen years since she'd graduated from Hogwarts. She'd been a seventh year in Ravenclaw when little Harry Potter had somehow defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and could well remember the terror that had held everybody in its grip. It was doubly so now that she'd gone on a couple of raids on the resurrected Death Eaters.

It wasn't bad tonight, even if it was a Saturday. She was trying to finish up her last report so that she wouldn't have to come in tomorrow, and so was alone in the spacious room set aside for all Unspeakables. Not the first time she'd been alone down here in the past month, she really didn't pay too much attention to the knockings outside the main door. The first time she'd heard it, Benedictine had gone to investigate its source, only to be confronted with a bulging - and locked - door leading off from the revolving room. She'd asked her superior if it was a matter or concern, only to be told that she should ignore it. The power that resided in that room swelled and waned of its own accord, as it had no rhyme and reason to its flow.

Benedictine had just filed the last report when he heard a loud thump. She dismissed it, as she'd been hearing such things the past hour. Raising her wand, she said the apparition spell. As she did, there was a huge burst of green light, filling the subterranean floors of the Ministry of Magic building. Taking a deep breath once she stood in the middle of her own living room, Benedictine tried to apparate directly back, but something stopper her. Panicking like she hadn't done since Hogwarts when confronted with Peeves, she grabbed some floo-call powder and yelled for Minister Fudge.

As she waited for the connection to go through, all she could think was that it was the exact same color as the killing curse.

******

Harry suddenly found himself in the circular room in the Department of Mysteries, surrounded by a green light he'd see far too frequently in his dreams. He pinched himself to see if he was still dreaming, and held back a yelp when his fingernail dug a little too deep into his skin. He was most definitely awake.

Glancing around, Harry saw one of the doors bulging with the eerie green light coming through the cracks. Almost instinctively, he knew that this was the time he had been waiting for. Reaching out for that power he knew was his, Harry let it flow through him, losing all sense of the world.

When he came to, Harry found himself on the floor, the doors in the circular room all wide open. The door that had held his power showed nothing more than a cupboard under some stairs. Looking closer, Harry saw that it was *his* cupboard under the stairs. Curious, he took a step towards it before think that he should wait.

Instead, Harry felt a pull towards that cold chamber which held the veil. Through the open door, he could just barely see that haunting piece of black, raggedy fabric. Stepping into the chamber, he noticed that the cloud of green light moved with him. In fact, it seemed to be a part of him, a part of his magic.

Boy, could he feel his magic, when he hadn't ever before.

The closer he got to the veil, the chillier the room grew, and a wind from out of nowhere started to blow and steadily increase. By the time he stood two feet from it, Harry could hear the voices crystal clear. He sorted through them, instinctively knowing that he would hear Sirius sooner or later. Eventually, he heard him, calling out to Harry.

Taking a deep breath, Harry stepped through the veil, all the time concentrating on finding Sirius.

He walked in the strange, oppressive air that seemed to tint everything purple, feeling as if he were trudging through deep water. The air was close, pressing onto his skin. Sirius' voice grew louder the further he walked, and the pull grew stronger. Harry squinted slightly, before discerning a figure in the distance - a figure he recognized even from here.

Harry started running as fast as he could towards it.

"Sirius!" he yelled between panting breaths.

"Harry?" came the curious and totally bewildered voice of Sirius.

"Yes!" Harry shouted as he came up to Sirius. "Oh, Sirius," he breathed as he wrapped his arms around the surprised man.

"H - Harry?" Sirius' arms hung slack for a second before almost convulsively pulling Harry tight against him. "What...?"

"It wasn't your time, Sirius," Harry muttered into his shoulder, trying to hold back the tears that were pressing against the back of his closed eyelids. "It wasn't time to leave me alone."

Sirius sighed, "Harry...."

~~~

Eventually Harry felt that strange pull again. He stepped back slightly, looking up at Sirius.

"It's time to leave here, isn't it?" Sirius asked what Harry was about to ask.

He nodded.

"But how?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, not quite able to put into words just what had guided him to this place in the first place. He had a lot of questions, but his quest to reach Sirius had been at the forefront of his mind, and the rest could wait until a later time.

"I'm not sure how," he said. "But you'd better hold tight to me."

Sirius looked at him for the briefest of moment before holding Harry in a tight embrace. As he did, the pull tugged harder than ever before, and this time he let it overtake him.

The two of them flew through the space, the air pressing ferociously against them. Harry could feel the skin on his face burn, as if he'd been working in the garden all day. The tug stopped suddenly, and he almost let go of Sirius, but he managed to hang on.

He opened eyes he hadn't realized he had even closed, and found himself back in the Department of Mysteries. Harry slowly released his arms and looked up at Sirius and started.

"Sirius?"

"Harry?" Sirius opened his pale, blue eyes, which seemed so much brighter on this side of the veil, though the room wasn't well lighted. But Harry could tell that something was much different about Sirius now that they were back *here.*

"Sirius, you're...."

Harry didn't get to finish, as a loud thump sounded out in the circular room. He scrambled to his feet, Sirius doing the same, and hurried to the open door.

"Harry?"

"I know," he said in a vague manner. "But there was a door earlier - " he looked around, trying to spot it. "Over there!" Harry grabbed Sirius' hand, pointing at the door they were headed to. He squeezed into the cupboard, pulling Sirius in with him. Outstretching his hand, he willed the door to shut as another thump sounded at the door of the elevator that led into the circular room. As it shut, Harry had the feeling they had just made it out as darkness overtook him.

******

"Boy! What is the meaning of this?" Uncle Vernon seemed to be ringing inside his head directly, instead of just bellowing in his ear.

Harry opened his eyes to find himself sprawled on the floor in front of his old cupboard. There was a strange weight on the back of his legs, and a hand in his own right hand. At first he had no idea what had happened, when he heard a groan practically in his ear. The events of last night - was it really last night? - came rushing back to him. He quickly lifted himself to his elbows and, ignoring a fuming Vernon Dursley, asked, "Sirius? You all right?"

Harry watched as the raven-haired man next to him moved at the sound of his voice. He finally saw all the changes on his godfather's face in the bright, early morning sun streaming through the windows of the front parlor. The wrinkles around the blue eyes had smoothed away, and the stress lines had disappeared, leaving Sirius looking much like he had at James and Lily's wedding.

"Harry?" Sirius' voice sounded quite young to Harry's ears as well.

"Potter!"

Harry and Sirius both looked up to see a purple-faced Uncle Vernon towering over them.

"Vernon Dursley?" Sirius asked as he stood. Fully standing, he was a good six inches taller than Uncle Vernon. "I have a bone to pick with you about how you treat my godson."

Uncle Vernon took a step back. "But... but they s - said you d - died!"

Sirius looked at Harry as he scrambled to his feet. He shrugged. "Moody, Tonks and Lupin met me at Kings Cross when the Express came in."

He deflated a little for half a second before perking up again. "I'm alive now, so that's what counts." He looked around, the morning light illuminating all the pictures of Dudley that hung on the hallway walls. "So, what's for breakfast?"

~~~

Sirius sat on the floor of Harry's bedroom, as he watched his godson tend to his owl. He'd been *very* surprised by what he'd seen in the bathroom mirror when he'd washed up. At first, he had thought that maybe something - or someone - had done this on purpose, until he realized that it seemed to have been a process that occurred behind the veil, as if he had been slowly being erased from the physical world. A scary thought, that, but now that he was out, he wasn't going to worry about it too much. Still, he had shuddered at it, glad that Harry had his back turned at the moment. The strange air had made it so hard to breathe behind the veil, and it was only the thought of Harry that hadn't driven him mad while he was there.

He looked at his wand, turning it this way and that. Sirius didn't want to take the chance that the house was being monitored for all magic, but he was wary of trying to do anything after being behind the veil for so long. All of which made him doubt his wand because of that time. He did change back and forth between Padfoot for a short time, and he had noticed he felt *young.* Sirius felt like he had before he was tossed into Azkaban, even if he could still remember the horrors of prison.

"When do you think I should send Hedwig?"

Sirius looked up to find Harry watching him with a curious look. He had seen for himself of the power that the boy - young man, really - had recently come into. Yet, he held himself much like he had before... if only a little wiser.

"About an hour after sunset should be fine," he finally answered. Sirius pulled the letter Harry had written to Remus. Scanning it, he double-checked it for any noticeable references to himself. He wanted to make sure that, if Hedwig was intercepted like last fall, that any knowledge of Sirius remained a secret until a safer point in time.

As he folded up the parchment, there was the flutter of an owl at the window. Harry pulled out a small coin purse and gave the owl a knut, pulled what must be The Daily Prophet off its leg. As Harry unrolled it, Sirius moved to read over his shoulder.

_Mysterious Force Closes Ministry of Magic for Seven Hours_

_Your intrepid reporter, Rita Skeeter, was there as several Aurors and Minister Cornelius Fudge finally broke through the strange barrier that refused anyone entry, starting at 10.53 last evening. The Daily Prophet, in its quest to find the truth - _

Sirius snorted at that statement.

_- delayed printing to bring you this story._

_According to Minister Fudge, there was an urgent call to his residence stating there was a strange, green light coming from the Department of Mysteries. Attempts were then made to enter the building, but there was no progress until almost six this morning. As Aurors made their way in to the entrance to the Department of Mysteries, the doors leading to the various rooms shut of their own accord. The brave Aurors searched for any sign of magical activity, but there was not a trace to be found._

_Is this the work of You-Know-Who? Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Headmaster of Hogwarts, said that "[You-Know-Who] would leave some kind of trace behind. It is quite unlikely that any human could perform any magic without leaving some kind of signature. The Department of Mysteries holds many kinds of magic that we, as wizards, cannot fully understand. It may just be something triggered a natural reaction between magics."_

_Minister Fudge stated that various Aurors and Unspeakables, who are comfortable with the objects that may be stored down there, will continue searching for clues. 'We will have people working on it around the clock. Ministry employees must have access to the building. The Ministry cannot take the chance that this will happen again."_

Sirius quit reading as the story flipped to the next page. He was going everything in the article when he could feel Harry begin to tremble where their arms touched.

"Harry?" Sirius turned him around and looked into his shocked and very scared face.

"Am I a freak?" Harry asked in a little voice.

Sirius wrapped his arms around the young man, pulling him into a reassuring hug.

"You are *not* a freak, Harry. Don't let anybody tell you differently." He gently kissed the soft, messy hair that hid Harry's scar. Sirius shifted and held Harry's face between both hands. "You *are* special. I don't mean about whatever prophesy Dumbledore was talking about. You are special because of who you are." He took a breath before tucking Harry back into his arms. "I realized, in that strange place behind the veil, that you are not James and I was a fool for ever thinking such a thing."

"Sirius?" Harry moved just enough to look into his face.

"Hm?"

"Do you really like me?"

Sirius reared back. "Like you?" he shouted.

At the look on Harry's face, he made himself calm down.

"Harry, I love *and* like you."

"I'm not my dad, though."

Sirius held Harry by the shoulders. "I know you are *not* your dad," he said, not quite sure he knew how to get what he felt across to Harry. He let out a sigh of frustration and led Harry to the bed. Once they were seated, Sirius faced Harry.

"Look, I know you aren't James. For a long time, I thought you were. I gave you that mirror, thinking that. When you didn't use it," he paused briefly at the guilty expression on Harry's face, "and when you called about Snivellus.... Moony and I talked quite a bit about that.

"Both of us - but especially me - had been hoping you would follow in your father's footsteps. I know that was wrong. And then I saw the way you fought back at the Ministry. You fought the way your mother did - that, more than anything, opened my eyes.

"I had a lot to think about on the other side. Most of what I did think about was how much I failed at the job your parents gave me." Sirius fell into silence, remembering bits and pieces of those horrible thoughts. They had been worse than being in Azkaban, because he could remember the good times as well.

"You didn't fail, Sirius," Harry suddenly said, his voice soft and still the tiniest bit trembling. "How could you fail?"

"Oh, Harry," Sirius sighed. "I didn't understand everything about you. I assumed too many things, especially this last year. You looked so much like James when you finally arrived at the house, and all I could think about what I thought should happen."

They both sank into silence. Sirius tried to keep his thoughts from wandering the paths it had taken in the past month. Was it really only a month? It was hard to believe he'd been in 'that place.'

When he'd been fighting Bellatrix, all he had seen was the archway, but after Harry had brought him back from that place, he'd seen the veil - that black cloth that seemed to move of its own accord - hanging in the middle of the archway. The veil had shuddered as Sirius had glanced at it, and there seemed to be a great calling of voices that he could faintly hear. It had been brief, and he wasn't sure if he'd really heard anything or not, so focused on Harry that everything in the peripheral was unnecessary.

A weight began to press against his side, and Sirius realized Harry must have fallen asleep. He wasn't surprised by such an action; Harry must have used a lot of energy in his rescue. Looking out the small window, he could see that the sun had risen high in the sky, which meant that they would have to wait to send Hedwig to Moony for at least another ten hours. It wouldn't be quite dark enough at nine to send the owl off - at least in this neighborhood.

There was a timid knock at the door before it opened to reveal Petunia Dursley. Sirius had only met here once before at James and Lily's wedding, and she had definitely not aged as well as her sister would have. Petunia craned her long neck around the door, looking curiously at Sirius and his sleeping companion.

"You and the b - Harry are welcome to eat lunch now," she said in a snobbish whine. Petunia pulled back quickly and shut the door with a quiet snap.

Sirius looked down at Harry. Now that he was asleep, Sirius could see the dark circles under Harry's eyes. Was that just from going to rescue him, or was that the result of sleepless nights before last night? Which also raised the question of why hadn't anyone noticed the great amount of power Harry must have used to go to the Ministry and step beyond the veil. So why hadn't anyone done something... anything? When Harry had cast that patronus last summer, there had been a great deal of havoc in both the Order and the Ministry.

What was different this time?


	2. Chapter 2

Forgot to put in the disclaimer last time, so here it is: I don't own these lovely boys. That would be an extremely rich, blonde woman who lives in Scotland. I've never been further east than New York.

Thanks to everybody who has reviewed!

Chapter 2

Harry looked over his essay one more time. Even though he was getting the hang of inanimate to animate transfigurations, he had been having problems describing them. Luckily, Sirius had stepped in to help. The older man - Sirius having declared Harry a man now that he was officially sixteen - had offered tips on just what McGonagall was looking for.

He just wasn't about to ask Sirius for help on potions.

Putting his homework safely away in his trunk, he looked over to see what Sirius was up to. He had been pacing for a while before helping Harry with his homework. After he had done all he could, Sirius had looked through Harry's trunk for something to do. Harry hadn't minded, until he remembered that he might not have cleaned out all his dirty clothes. Still, he'd just shrugged his shoulders and went back to writing his essay, figuring that as long as Sirius didn't call attention to it, he would ignore it.

What he found was Sirius sprawled on the bed, shifting slightly to find a comfortable spot among the lumps in the mattress, of which there really wasn't one. He was thumbing through Quidditch Through the Ages, the book propped up on his thin chest, rising and falling in cadence with each breath. Harry wondered if that was enough to keep him occupied until dinner, even if it was with the Dursleys.

Already he could tell that *that* was going to be quite the experience.

Aunt Petunia had been strangely quiet when Harry and Sirius had made their way to the kitchen. When he'd woken from his impromptu nap, Harry had been famished, and he could only imagine how Sirius felt. When they had seated themselves, Uncle Vernon had gotten up and left the table, newspaper in hand. Dudley had tried to scoot closer to Aunt Petunia, but the chair cracked ominously, so the boy shuddered every time Sirius reached for his glass of water, which lay opposite of Dudley's on the table.

It had been a strange meal for Harry. Even last summer, Harry had been expected to take the smallest portion and drink water, but Aunt Petunia had actually offered some fresh lemonade to both of them. Harry knew that Sirius had found that strange, just by the surprise that must have shown on his face. Still, he hadn't eaten that well at the Dursleys ever, even the month after Hagrid had shown up on his birthday until the day he left for his first year at Hogwarts.

Dinner at the Dursleys, though, was much different than the noon meal. Harry found himself wondering if he would be given his usual job of being dish boy when it was over, in spite of Sirius being there. Then there was the chance that Uncle Vernon might take exception to Sirius and call the police on him. Harry was a little frightened by that thought, but he knew that the fact that his godfather had 'come back from the dead' had temporarily stunned Uncle Vernon into being quiet.

Maybe, just maybe, dinner would be better than normal.

******

Sirius' fingers hurt from clenching them through most of the meal he'd just suffered through. He'd kept quiet for Harry's sake - the poor thing's face had been distressed as the meal had progressed - but he'd had a hard time keeping himself from strangling Dursley. After the meal, Sirius had run Vernon to the ground in the garage and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he wasn't to talk to Harry - or about Harry - if it wasn't anything good. He wouldn't need to use his wand for that, either.

He settled himself on Harry's bed once more, watching as Harry poured through his potions books. Sirius wasn't going to even attempt to help Harry, since he didn't want to sabotage Harry's entry essay into NEWTs Potions. Even if Snivellus was a bastard.

Sirius calmed down as he read through Harry's birthday latter from Remus. He had forgotten quite a few of these stories, Azkaban having screwed with his mind so much. Remus had a natural gift for storytelling that Sirius had envied when they were still at school. He found himself actually laughing at his stupidity at sixteen, even if it was embarrassing to think on it now.

Eventually, Harry had to turn on the light, so Sirius began to mark the time Hedwig could be sent on her way to Remus. He watched the stars dimly appear against the city-lighted sky. He could just barely make out one of the constellations he remembered from his Astronomy class. Finally, the light grew its dimmest and he sent the snowy owl off.

Harry turned off the small lamp on his desk, leaving the two of them in the soft light of the overhead lamp.

"Did you want to sleep in the guest room, then?" Harry asked.

Sirius shuddered. "No. It's too pink and flowery in there. It looks too much like one of Lily's experiments at charms."

"When...? What?"

He chuckled at Harry's bewilderment. "I peeked into the guest room when you were muttering something about Polyjuice Potion - " here Harry blushed. Sirius would most definitely have to hear that particular tale. "And your mother was, in our seventh year, always trying to come up with a charm to tame your father's hair."

Sirius smiled at Harry, who gave a crooked grin in return. He knew that Harry craved hearing stories about his parents, especially since Sirius had been bombarded with requests over Christmas holidays. That, and all the stories Remus had written him since the beginning of summer.

"So, you get the bed then," Harry said. "I can sleep on the floor."

"Harry...."

The younger man shook his head. "I know that the bed's not the best, but I want you to take it. I can use some of Dudley's old clothes as a bed."

Sirius stared at Harry in shock for the briefest of seconds before relenting. He hadn't been prepared for how generous Harry really was. He had heard stories, from mainly Remus and McGonagall, that Harry was a generally nice-mannered, young man. He was nothing like James, and he was going to get that through his own thick skull sooner rather than later.

"Very well," he slowly said. "If your sure...."

Harry nodded before going over to the small dresser that stood in the corner. He began to pull out the not-quite-giant-size clothing. Sirius knew about the hand-offs from the Dursley boy, but that didn't mean he had to like it. As soon as he had the chance, he was going to take Harry on a shopping trip that would blow all others away.

Nothing like he'd had growing up - he'd been introduced to it by James' shop-happy mother and aunt.

All of which reminded him of having to put up with his mother's portrait again. And Phineaus. 'Well,' he thought as he made himself as comfortable as he could, 'I'll just have to find some way to get her off the bloody wall.'

Sirius wasn't sure what had woken him up until he heard the whimpering. Then he wondered why he had become Padfoot without realizing it. The whimpering came again, and this time he could tell that it was coming from the floor. Harry's direction.

He rolled over to look at his godson and saw him curled into a tiny ball, much smaller than his frame would indicate. The cloak Harry had been using as a blanket had been tossed off, and he lay shivering even in the summer hot night. Sirius got off the bed and leaned towards the young man.

"Harry?" he asked in a low voice. When Harry didn't respond, Sirius said his name a little louder and lightly touched his shoulder.

Harry jumped back as if he'd been scalded, myopic green eyes darting wildly. Sirius watched, worried, as Harry seemed to focus on him and calm down. The young man took a shuddering breath before launching himself into Sirius' arms.

He rocked back at the weight, tightening his arms around the slight figure. Sirius could tell that Harry was trying not to cry.

"I thought it was all a dream," Harry finally said in a shaking voice, the words muffled by Sirius' neck. "The room... the veil. Holding you and knowing you're real. Alive."

Sirius shuddered himself as all the events of the past day tumbled through his mind. He tightened his arms further to reassure both Harry and himself.

"I'm not going anywhere, Harry. I'm not leaving you alone anymore," he promised.

******

Harry heard Hedwig cooing at the window. He pulled himself from sleep enough to open one eye to look at her, but he wasn't about to move. He was far too comfortable to go anywhere at the moment.

"Hedwig?" he called in a soft whisper. "Did you bring back a letter?"

The snowy owl gave a soft hoot and flew over to land on Harry's outstretched arm, where it'd been when he had awoken. The string holding the parchment to Hedwig's leg tickled the inside of his wrist. It itched just enough to make him move to take the letter.

Behind him, there was a groan of protest. Harry felt the small bed shake as Sirius rolled up to his back.

"What..." Sirius rested his head on Harry's shoulder. "That from Moony?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, earning a grunt from Sirius. "Sorry," he said absently, untying the parchment from Hedwig's leg. He unrolled the letter and held it so the both of them could read it.

Dear Harry,

Why did you request it like that? It sounds quite unlike you. Are you sure that the Dursleys are treating you well? Otherwise, I'll have to send Moody out to see you.

Since I have guard duty at your house on Tuesday - the wards and not you - I will talk to you in the afternoon, if that is fine. Dumbledore wants me to stay where I am until then, as no one else will be here. The Weasleys have gone to meet Charlie out in London while he's in the country. Ron was going to write you, but as Hedwig had shown up by then, I offered to let you know. I expect Ron will want to tell you all the details when you get here.

There is some news to tell you, but as it is very detailed, it will have to wait until I see you on Tuesday.

Look for me in the hydrangea bush in back of the house.

Remus Lupin

PS Congratulations on your Potions OWL! Snape was fussing over having to follow his own rules that all students with an "O" are automatically entered into the NEWTs class.

Sirius sighed in his ear as Harry rolled the parchment back up.

"So, he's not coming until Tuesday, then," he said as he fully sat up. Harry looked up at him, petting Hedwig after she flew up to the headboard. "That gives us another two day to fill, more or less. What time does your uncle get home?"

"Around six-thirty," Harry answered. "I usually start dinner around six."

Sirius started. "We'll see about that," he said under his breath. Harry wasn't sure whether he was meant to hear that or not.

"Well," Sirius clapped his hands. "I think the first thing we should do is check if my wand will be detected here. Because if it isn't, I'm making this bed a hell of a lot more comfortable." He paused, "And please, *don't* tell me how long you have had this bed, because I will do something very horrible to the Dursleys. So don't say anything."

Harry held back a laugh at the look of Sirius' face, like he was trying to laugh and taunt Snape at the same time. Instead, he rolled out of bed to stand on the pile of Dudley's old clothes that still lay in a crumpled mound. He kicked them over to lie in front of the dresser. Going over to his trunk, he pulled out an owl treat and offered it to Hedwig, who flew over to him as soon as she saw it, while checking that her water dish was relatively full. He looked over at the clock.

"It's almost time for breakfast."

Sirius looked up at that, his thoughts obviously still on Dursley torture. "What?"

Harry smiled. "Let's go to breakfast, and then we'll go outside and test your wand. Okay?"

"Sounds good," Sirius tucked his wand up his sleeve and opened the door. "Shall we?"

Harry nodded, leading the way down to the kitchen.

Harry was almost ready to shove his potions essay in Snape where the sun never shone. He wasn't about to say anything to Sirius, who had been gleefully warping all of the clothes Harry had inherited from Dudley into something wearable for the average human. Sirius had commented that they would only need to be a little longer and Hagrid could wear them.

So, he definitely didn't want to knock Sirius out of his good mood for help on potions.

He'd covered the topic of polyjuice potion on what he remembered from the venture into the Slytherin dungeons. The other topics though... he really needed to go through Hogwarts' library for this stuff, because there was no way he could find any information he needed down at the local library. It wasn't as if he could ask Uncle Vernon if he could use his card for it, either.

It looked like Harry would have to wait until he could ask Hermione about it, because she most likely had read all the books needed for the assignment in third year. That meant he'd have to put off finishing this essay until the last week of holiday, when Hermione would come to Grimmauld Place. Still, it was the principle of the thing on whether or not he could finish the essay without outside help.

Finally, he shoved his potions essay away. Digging through his trunk, he became aware of a high-pitched sounding noise coming from one of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Harry couldn't figure out what was making the sound until he picked it up. His old sneakoscope! But what was setting it off?

Harry looked over at Sirius - the likely suspect in the case - to see what he was up to. Sure enough, Sirius was hexing a shirt of Dudley's' that Harry had refused to wear even if it was shrunk down to his size. The florid, lime green shirt was glowing with the magic embedded in the fabric.

"You do realize that if you give that to Dudley while we're here, I *will* be expelled," Harry said as he fully turned to face his godfather.

Sirius flashed an impish grin. "Which is why the Dudster won't find it until he leaves for school."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "But where is the fun in that? We wouldn't be able to see what happens."

"Harry, my young friend," Sirius said in a boisterous voice. "If you will remember, we have a friend in the Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office."

"But is that fair to Mr. Weasley, to make him deal with Dudley?"

Sirius paused. "Hm. Maybe I'll set it to go off after we've left. Once you leave the wards for a couple of days, they reset themselves to when you're at Hogwarts. The Dursleys won't dare blame you, and the Ministry will just think I made an attempt on you." Another rakish grin followed this statement.

"Sirius..."

"Harry..." Another grin.

He sighed in resignation. There was no way he would be able to talk Sirius out of this, but he had, at least, gotten him to not cause trouble for any of the Order members who would have to deal with the Dursleys. Harry pitied who actually would have to come to reverse the hexes Sirius was overloading the shirt with. Shaking his head, he stood and put his homework away. Reaching back, he grabbed the sneakoscope from where it had been sitting on the corner of the desk and unwrapped it.

Harry held it out, wincing, as the noise grew higher all of a sudden before stopping.

"What's that?" Sirius asked as he put the shirt away for the moment.

Harry smirked. "You've never seen one before?"

"Yes," Sirius said as he came over to look at it. "Where'd you get this from?" He picked the small sneakoscope up and turned it all over, trailing a finger over the faintly embossed writing along the middle. "I haven't seen one of these since James and I broke into his father's office when I moved in."

Harry smiled at the reminiscing look on Sirius' face. He was always happy to hear Sirius talk about his father without getting maudlin.

"Ron got it in Egypt," Harry finally answered. "Mrs. Weasley said it was a waste of money, but Ron said it was going off during dinner because Fred and George were putting things in Bill's soup."

Sirius laughed. "Sounds like those two, huh? Too bad it never went off..." he trailed off, hands clenching into fists, still holding onto the sneakoscope. "Damn that rat, anyway."

Harry gently touched a hand to Sirius' arm. "Siri."

He looked up from the sneakoscope held in one fist. "Hm?"

"We will catch him," Harry offered. "They all think you're gone. It'll be easier to hunt him down."

"And when I do - " Sirius growled.

Harry pried the sneakoscope out of Sirius' hand before he crushed it. He set it aside and tentatively held both of Sirius' hands in his own.

"Sirius. I know that you want to find him, and so do I. But it will take a while."

Sirius tightened his fingers around Harry's.

"I know that. I just don't want to be stuck in that damn house like I was last year."

Harry nodded. "I know. Dumbledore will have to do something about that - " even if Harry didn't trust him as far as he could throw him at that point " - I will make sure of that. If nothing else, we can always find a place for you to hide at Hogwarts." He gave a squeeze back and smiled. "I will help this time."

******

Sirius curled his toes in the still dew-damp grass. He'd come out here as soon as breakfast was over, needing to get away from Dursley. Harry must have been born a saint with having to put up with the man all these years. There was no way on this earth he would have been able to do so. And he finally understood why Harry really didn't want to inflict the Dursleys on Arthur. He shuddered as he remembered dinner last night. Definitely not the best meal he'd eaten. It had reminded him of dinners when he was growing up. Except the Dursleys talked of spying on their neighbors (well, not in such 'uncouth' terms) instead of which Mudblood families Voldemort wanted the Blacks to keep on eye on.

A flutter of white approached him, as Hedwig came home from her nightly hunt. The snowy owl landed gently on Sirius' shoulder, giving his ear a soft nip in welcome. He had the strange idea that she was glad her Harry had Sirius back. While it wasn't common at all, it was very likely that Harry and Hedwig had bonded enough for the owl to become his familiar - no ceremony needed.

Harry *was* a strong enough wizard for it to have happened. *That* he had only realized last night when Dudley had been taunting Harry while Sirius had been washing up. The door hadn't been shut all the way, and Dudley's voice carried enough anyway. The much larger boy had been saying something about James and Lily, a sure thing to set Harry's not-so-inconsiderable temper off - one of the many things Harry had inherited from his mother of which he'd been hiding. Harry had obviously been holding back when Sirius rounded the corner, judging by the clenched jaw and fists, but the boy had been glowing faintly, even in the well-lit hallway.

Sirius shook his head at the memory. He was impressed at how Harry held his own without resorting to magic like his father or Sirius would have at sixteen.

He felt somebody next to him, and he automatically knew it was Harry. He didn't make so much as a sound as just be. The magic Sirius had seen last night seemed to be a tangible thing the further his birthday fell into the past. Sirius really hadn't noticed that until he'd woken up that morning with Harry sprawled out on the enlarged bed next to him.

Harry's magic felt warm, and it reminded Sirius of when he'd been born. As soon as Harry had been put in his arms, Sirius had known that this kid would move mountains, just not in the way he already had.

"I can remember when your mum left the hospital with you," Sirius said, breaking the soothing silence. "It was a day exactly like this. Your dad was fussing something awful, but Lily was just as serene as could be. You were sleeping as usual - I only remember you crying once, and that's because James was waving your bottle around instead of feeding you... in between long naps. Your grandparents on the Evans side came and picked all three of you at hospital - London General, I think - because Lily refused to take the Knight Bus."

"That would have been a trip to remember," Harry conceded.

"Hm, yes," Sirius moved his feet a little, relishing the springy, wet grass. "Anyway, your Grandmother Evans took all sorts of pictures, but every time she tried to take a close-up of you, you'd turn your face into the blanket. No matter how much James made a face at you to make you smile, you didn't want your picture taken."

Harry snickered. "No wonder Aunt Petunia always was taking pictures of Dudley."

Sirius smirked. "That explains the strange wallpaper in the lounge. I didn't know that they had paper with land whales to plaster on the walls."

They both burst into laughter.

"I met up with them when they arrived at your parents' house - they were living over in Highbury at the time - your grandfather managed to get one picture of you while your grandmother was fussing over your mother. As soon as she found out, your grandmother grabbed the camera and tried to take a picture of you. You rolled over and she ended up getting a nice picture of your diaper."

Harry flushed as Sirius remembered how much he and James had laughed over that picture.

"Meanwhile, James and I are trying to keep your mother upright, because *her* mother had abandoned her for a picture. Your grandmother tried for a good half-hour trying to get a picture of you."

Harry burst out laughing, even as they heard a faint "Boy, be quiet!" coming from the garage, as Vernon left for work. Sirius made a rude gesture in that direction before reaching up and soothing Hedwig, who'd been startled awake by the laughter. He looked down and wiggled his toes, finding that Harry had enough sense to put shoes on before coming out.

"What happened to them?" Harry asked in a soft voice. "My grandparents?"

Sirius sighed. "You know that your father's parents took me in when I was sixteen?"

Harry nodded.

"Davidus and Lorelei Potter were good people. Voldemort hadn't begun targeting pureblood families who were 'Mudblood lovers' as they put it just yet, but they got caught by Death Eaters while on a trip to visit one of their friends. There wasn't much to indicate what really happened, but there were a lot of curse marks that showed they put up a fight, especially since Davidus was an Auror before he retired.

"Afton and Marigold Evans were in a car accident when you were a couple months old. They weren't killed, but their injuries were a strain on your grandmother. When she passed away, Afton was lost without her. You were just a year old when he died. Soon after that, your parents had to go into hiding."

"What did they do?" Harry asked as he sat down on the now dry grass. Sirius joined him, Hedwig flying up to Harry's room when he moved.

"Afton Evans was retired - a teaching doctor, and Marigold was a housewife. I think I remember Lily saying that Petunia was born in London and she was born in Brighton because your grandfather taught at several schools. Something to do with... um..." Sirius searched for the right word. "Carte... cardiology? I think that's what it was."

"So. Davidus and... Lorelei?"

Sirius nodded.

"And Afton and Marigold."

He nodded again, as Harry assimilated the information. Sirius looked over to the house and saw Petunia looking out the window like he'd expected her to be. As soon as she realized she was caught, the curtains were yanked shut. Lily had always said that Petunia was nosy, and he could believe it after staying here the past day or so.

Some things never seemed to change, no matter what else happened. Even if Sirius wished it would.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I saw The Return of the King last night, and it was bloody fantastic!!! You really should go and see this movie!

Chapter 3

"You did it now," Harry said, exasperatedly. He pulled the Charms book he'd been reading from his back pocket, where he'd stored it before lunch. He hurriedly flipped to the back. "I hope there's a countercharm for this, because Aunt Petunia won't be happy if you can't give Dudley's voice back." He looked over the page he'd stopped at. "I didn't think that charm worked on living things anyway."

Sirius just laughed at that as he watched Dudley panic. His wide mouth emitted no sounds, but it certainly revealed the large boy's last snack. Sirius was amazed that he had any teeth left with the amount of cavities in that mouth. There was an added bonus when the Dudster worked out the meaning of Harry's last comment.

It was Remus' fault for Sirius not having anything to do today. His friend hadn't specified what time he would be able to talk to Harry, so the more time that passed, the more antsy he felt.

Sirius sat down heavily on the couch Dudley had abandoned. It was amazing just how well adjusted Harry was after living with that monstrosity of idiocy. When Petunia had timidly announced that lunch was ready, Sirius and Harry had headed back inside in time to see Dudley make a fuss about Harry getting special treatment. If this was 'special' treatment, Sirius wanted to know how many tonnes of food it took to make somebody this brain dead. Or blind. Or lack common sense. Then, once the silent meal had been finished and Sirius followed the Dursley boy into the lounge just to annoy him - and keep Sirius busy, since Harry had decided to wait inside for Remus - and Harry following them silently, Dudley had made a fuss when his favorite television show was interrupted by a newsbreak.

Sirius' attention had been caught by the newsbreak, and when Dudley had gotten so loud that turning up the volume didn't work, he'd silenced the boy with the first thing he could think of. The news didn't seem wizard related, so he watched Dudley panic.

Just as Sirius was about to go up to Harry's room and find *something* interesting to read - he wasn't about to read anything the rest of the household had to offer - there was a knock on the kitchen door. He looked over at Harry, who shut his Charms book and jumped out of the chair he'd been uncomfortably sitting on.

Sirius followed Harry the short length of the kitchen, excitement bubbling through him. As Harry opened the door, the thought that he might freak Moony out crossed his mind. So, he changed into Padfoot with a soft popping sound, which solicited a shriek from Petunia as an added bonus before she fled the room.

"Harry?" Remus Lupin asked as Harry held the door wide open.

Padfoot could smell Remus' scent underneath the worry emanating from his friend. It changed to shock as the graying man caught sight of him.

"Harry?!" Moony's voice was strangled as his hands began to tremble. "Did you...? What...?"

"Professor?" Harry touched Lupin's arm and the man jumped, startled.

Padfoot whined, unable to voice his concerns, but unsure if he should change and possibly give the man a heart attack. He shook his nose over in the direction of the table. Harry took the hint and led the paling man to a chair, where he slumped down.

"Professor?" Harry's voice was shaky. "It's all right, okay?"

Remus ran a hand through the partially gray hair on his head. "Is it...? Can it...?"

Harry nodded, grinning over at Padfoot. "Yes!" he exclaimed happily.

Padfoot sensed this was the right moment to reveal himself. With another pop, Sirius knelt at his friend's feet.

"Moony?" he reached for Remus' hand and held it tight between both of his own.

"Paddy?" Remus' hand tightened around Sirius'. "You're real?"

Sirius nodded. He looked over at Harry with a sappy grin spreading across his lips. "Harry rescued me somehow."

"What!?" Remus sat upright in the chair. His grip tightened enough to make Sirius wince. "Harry!"

"Professor - "

"Remus, Harry."

" - Remus.... I... I didn't do it deliberately," Harry haltingly explained. "It just... happened."

Remus' golden eyes widened. "The Ministry...."

Sirius and Harry nodded in unison, before Sirius rose to his feet. He tugged on Remus' hand.

"Let's go up to Harry's room so we can talk about this in a more comfortable setting."

Remus slowly nodded and allowed Sirius to pull him up.

******

"So," Remus began, "you're telling me that, all of a sudden, you were in the Department of Mysteries."

Harry nodded.

"And the locked room - the one with the door nobody could open in the last hundred years - opened at your touch."

Harry nodded again and added, "to reveal my old bedroom."

Both Remus and Sirius clenched their teeth.

"Yes," Remus said tightly. "Then you went into the room with the veil and somehow rescued Sirius by going through it."

Harry nodded once more. His face was beginning to show his displeasure with the way this conversation was going. Sirius glared at Remus, urging him to move onto something different.

Remus switched his attention to Sirius. "How is it that no one from the Ministry had noticed you doing any magic here? This bedroom has obviously been enlarged magically, and they certainly don't teach that kind of thing until seventh year at Hogwarts."

Sirius shrugged. "I've no idea, but it's like my magic is different now."

"Different?" Remus asked, alarmed. "How?"

He thought for a moment, trying to come up with a way to say it. "It's like... it feels like I'm back at school... like sixth year after I began living with James."

Both older men looked at Harry in consideration.

"Now that I think about it, Harry," Sirius continued, "your room feels like the old Potter House did."

"Really?" The sixteen-year-old perked up at that. "Where...?"

Sirius paused. He wasn't sure if he should continue this conversation. Bringing up anything that had to do with the house that he had lived in after he'd left his family's house was painful. The three years he had lived with the Potters had been great, but at the same time he'd had to face the possibility that his family would be willing to kill him because he was a 'traitor' to the Dark.

Petunia called up the stairs at that moment, announcing that dinner was ready. Sirius looked at Harry. "I will tell you later, alright?"

Harry nodded, but Sirius could see he wouldn't be placated with a half-answer.

******

They were again settled in Harry's room, having endured another strained dinner conversation. The head of the Dursley household had not been amused to have another 'freak' in his house, but had quieted down upon learning that the newest guest was a savage beast every full moon. As opposed to what Sirius would do any day of the month.

Remus sat back amongst the pillows Sirius had transfigured from some of Dudley's old, broken toys. Harry could see that he was thinking about how they could inform Dumbledore without alerting the rest of the Order. As he did so, Harry had other things to worry about.

Remus had told Harry and Sirius about some of the things that had been happening lately. First was about 12 Grimmauld Place itself. The house had gotten dark since the night of the events at the Ministry, but in the last couple of days, it had suddenly lightened a bit. Fletcher had suggested that the house had been mourning the last of the Blacks, and everyone had gone with that explanation because it was logical. Harry could agree with that, but there was more to it. The next thing Remus told them was of Kreacher's odd behavior - even odder than previously. The house elf had taken to some place they couldn't reach within the house, and he would only appear if there were more than four Order members in the house.

He had also informed them that Narcissa Malfoy had attempted to gain entry into the house, but hadn't been able to get the front of the house to appear. It seemed as if Sirius had actually willed the house to recognize Harry as being his only family, and not his own cousin. This had puzzled even Dumbledore, because of the annoying and dangerous creatures the house had given shelter to all these years. Never before had a thing like a house actually been sentient enough to know the wishes of the last of its 'family.'

Harry knew that it was a lot to think about, but Remus had raised an interesting point: why had everything that had occurred in the last three days gone undetected by both the Ministry and the Order when it came to Harry? Add to that, he had his own question to ask Dumbledore - how *had* he gotten Sirius back when no spell could bring back the dead? So what did all of this mean?

He didn't even want to think about what it did mean.

When he had first woken up after getting Sirius back, he'd been so overjoyed at having him here that he'd ignored the questions that came with it. Even before Lupin - Remus, Harry reminded himself - had arrived, he could avoid thinking in exchange for actually having fun in the summer. With Remus' arrival, it had felt almost like an intrusion. Not Remus himself, but the man brought with him the outside world. All of it was encroaching on the little world in which Harry felt totally safe.

He looked over at the other two, who were quickly heading towards a fight over Sirius' actions with the Dursleys. On one level, Harry thought it was only justifying his relatives' beliefs about wizards and witches. The level he most agreed with thought everything was rather funny, and he knew he could count on Sirius for anything like it.

~~~

Sirius wondered just how much Harry had really been hiding his wishes to learn more about his family. He hadn't really noticed it last Christmas - he'd been far too happy that he could be with Harry - but he'd already asked several things in the last three days. He realized then that both Remus and Harry were looking at him.

"Well, it stands to reason, doesn't it, that your power comes from your family?" Sirius asked, referring to their previous conversation about the power in the room where they sat. "Only I never felt it coming from James... just the house."

Remus nodded as Harry looked at him, almost bewildered. "James did a little bit - " Remus began.

"To you, maybe, super-sensitive man," Sirius interrupted. He smirked at his friend, who was frowning.

"What I was trying to say, Harry, is that while one noticed it if James was angry, it seems to ooze out of your pores."

Both Harry and Sirius looked at him in shock.

Remus sighed. "James had some similar power like the power that was in that room in the Ministry, *and* it was part of the Potters' land and home. Because you could access that room, it's logical to assume that you have that power in spades."

Sirius frowned. He didn't think it was the same, because he had *felt* Harry's power when they'd been sitting on the sofa last Christmas, and he said so.

"Was it as powerful as now?" Remus asked.

"No," Sirius said. "But it was more than I've ever felt from anyone other than Dumbledore."

Harry's face scrunched up in frustration. "It's not normal, is it?" He pounded his fist on the desk. "I'm not normal, am I?"

Sirius' heart clenched at the despair written on Harry's face and in his voice, not focusing on the anger that was there as well. He moved to kneel in front of the young man.

"Harry..." he wasn't sure what to say, but knew he had to say something. "Yes, it's not normal - "

Harry reared back, but Sirius grabbed his hands and pulled him closer.

"Harry.... You are special to us. Not for who your father was, as much as I may have wished it before. It doesn't matter to us - " he pointed at Remus and himself - "what power you have or anything like that. We will be with you, no matter what."

Harry looked at him, and Sirius could tell he had at least listened, but it hadn't really sunk in. He looked over at Remus helplessly, not really sure of what else he could say.

Remus stood and crossed the room. Putting a hand on Harry's shoulder, he said, "It sounds a little maudlin coming from Padfoot - "

"It does not," Sirius muttered under his breath to himself.

" - But he is correct, Harry. It doesn't matter if you *are* the one Voldemort is after or you had grown up with your parents. Either way, we love you."

"Because of my parents?" Harry spluttered angrily.

Sirius shook his head. "Never, Harry. I've loved you since the day you were born. It's only changed as you've grown."

"But all that stuff about my dad...."

"Things I wanted to see, even though you showed me differently. Harry, I only did that because I had this picture of you when you were little while I was in Azkaban. I thought of you missing your parents and how it should be, and not how it was." Sirius pulled the younger man into an awkward yet heartfelt embrace. "You, as you are now, are what I missed the most on the other side of that veil, Harry."

Sirius felt Harry relax slightly. As he did so, he could feel Remus kneel as well and put an arm around his shoulder.

"Things are going to be different, Harry," Sirius whispered, "for all of us. I promise it'll get better."

******

It was very quiet in Harry's room later that night. Remus had left very late, promising to bring Dumbledore back as soon as he returned from his reinstatement ceremony in the International Wizards Confederation. Now Harry and Sirius were lying in the bed, almost of the verge of sleep.

"Harry?"

One sleepy, green eye opened. "Hm, Siri?"

"I meant everything I said earlier."

"I know." A pause as Harry yawned. "Good night. Love you."

"Good night, Harry. I love you, too."

~~~

A loud bang woke Sirius from the strange dream he'd been having about being behind the veil. Disoriented for a brief second, he wondered at the warm body close to his. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he looked to find Harry sleeping peacefully.

Another loud bang sounded, and this time Sirius could tell that it was coming from outside. Raising himself just enough to look out the window, he was alarmed to see a group of people a couple of houses over, Auror insignia embroidered on the upper arms of their robes. Panicking, Sirius gave Harry a shove to wake him up, even as he jumped out of bed.

"Wha...?" came Harry's sleepy inquiry.

"Aurors!" Sirius whispered loudly. "Three houses down!"

Harry sat up and looked out the window. Sirius saw they were moving quickly towards them. "Bugger."

Harry sighed, before his face brightened. "Do you trust me, Sirius?"

He turned to look at Harry, who was searching for his glasses. "Yes... why?"

"Come here," Harry said as he climbed out of bed.

Sirius stepped closer and looked out the window. One house away, now. He turned back to the young man in front of him. "Harry?"

~~~

Harry suddenly knew what to do, just like he had in the Department of Mysteries. He put his hands on Sirius' temples, willing the magic to do what it must. Once it started, he could feel the power move through his fingertips.

First, he changed Sirius' magical signature to resemble a squib's - almost identical to Filch's - but still leaving all of his magic intact. Then he slightly changed his physical features. Blue eyes darkened and black hair became a light brown. Lastly, he changed Sirius' physical age to be a little older than his own.

He stepped back, smiling at Sirius before letting the magic still needed to settle over the house.

The last piece fell into place a nanosecond before the first auror stepped past the immediate wards for the house.

"What did you do, Harry?" Sirius asked. He started in surprise at the bass voice coming out of his mouth, quite different from his own baritone.

Harry's smile widened. "You are Martin Evans, a cousin of the Evans that live in the neighborhood on Magnolia Crescent. Aunt Petunia invited you to stay the night because you might possible be related. There are some clothes in the guest room, but I was showing you a couple books to read because you couldn't sleep." He reached over to one of the shelves on the wall, picking up a like-new book.

"Here they come."

Sirius looked wild-eyed for a passing moment before Harry said, "They won't take you away from me, Sirius. Never again."

The 'older' man gave a nervous grin as a knock sounded downstairs at the front door.

~~~

Aunt Petunia gave a loud screech as the auror that had been upstairs ran down once more.

"All clear up there," the blond man said.

"I should bloody hope so," Uncle Vernon bellowed. He obviously was very unhappy with more 'freaks' coming in the middle of the night looking for a murderer. He'd only let them in because the lead auror had pulled his wand out. "No murderer is going to get in my house, and certainly not a freak."

The man, who had identified himself as Senior Auror Roberston, motioned to his men, who began to slowly shuffle outside. "Mr. Potter. I'm afraid I'm going to have to Obliviate your family," he began.

Uncle Vernon grunted. "You're not doing anything to my family."

Aunt Petunia nodded, still shielding Dudley and an arm on the man the aurors were actually looking for. The woman had latched onto 'Martin' like Harry had hoped she would.

"Mr. Roberston," Harry tentatively said. "It's probably best to leave it alone."

The auror looked at him. "You haven't seen Sirius Black since that night in the Ministry, have you, Mr. Potter?"

Harry shrugged. "He fell through that odd looking veil, sir. I don't see how I could."

"Absolutely positive?"

Harry nodded, putting on the innocent face that had kept him out of trouble with everybody except his relatives.

Roberston paused. "If you do see him, please Owl either myself or Kingsley Shacklebolt, who is also handling this case." He turned to Uncle Vernon. "Good evening, sir. I hope we haven't disturbed you too much."

Uncle Vernon opened his mouth, but Aunt Petunia laid a hand on his arm.

The auror turned and exited the house, leaving a livid Uncle Vernon. Aunt Petunia clutched Dudley and 'Martin' closer to her.

"So your godfather's dead?" Uncle Vernon asked, his face turning multiple shades of purple.

Harry shook his head. "No. In fact, he's really close by."

"Where?" was the demand.

He shrugged. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Uncle Vernon stepped towards him menacingly. "So, you lied to that man?"

Harry sighed. "No. I didn't answer his question of whether I had seen Sirius lately. I just told him I saw him fall through the veil. I said nothing about helping him come back through." Outside, he could sense the aurors leave the vicinity of the house, and so he let most of the magic he been weaving fall apart, exhausted by the effort.

Uncle Vernon's face paled. "So he is alive?" he asked in a shaky voice as he realized the 'murderer' he said wouldn't get in his house was still there and was now the boy his wife was clutching.

'Martin' nodded, even as the years rapidly came back to his face. The Dursleys looked at him in fear and horror.

"How about we leave this until the morning." Sirius yawned. "I would rather go to sleep at this late hour than deal with this." He turned to Uncle Vernon in a threatening manner. "But if you even think of alerting those men that were just here, you won't ever do a single thing in the rest of your very short life."

Uncle Vernon was the palest Harry had ever seen him as he herded his family up the stairs.

Harry watched his relatives flee, relief pouring over him. He had been dreading them doing anything right now while the aurors were still too close. He had the feeling that they would be keeping a close eye on Little Whinging until the morning, but at least they had left the wards Harry had tampered with.

Too bad Shacklebolt hadn't been the one leading the team.

A touch to his arm startled Harry out of his thoughts. He looked to find Sirius looking at him, a worried frown on his lips. The Dursleys were already in their rooms.

"Are you all right?"

Harry nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "Just tired." He moved towards the stairs. "We'll get everything sorted out in the morning."

"That's fine, Harry," Sirius said, as the two of them headed up. He ushered Harry into his room and tucked the younger man into the bed. "Whatever you think you should do, I will help you with."

******

Remus had stopped by again on Friday - after his quick check-up with Tonks watching outside, after the aurors had left Wednesday morning - to help Harry pack up his belongings. Dumbledore had gathered together a group that would be coming tonight to escort Harry to Grimmauld Place. The headmaster had only come back today from France, where the Confederation met in Paris. The ceremony had only lasted a day, but then Dumbledore had been requested by Madame Maxime to come to Beauxbatons to help with something. Remus hadn't specified what it was.

Now Harry and Sirius were waiting for their escort. Remus, unfortunately, wouldn't be one of them, due to his being guard for the Weasley twins each evening when they left their new store in Diagon Alley. Harry knew that, even though Fred and George hadn't sat for their NEWTs, they were smart enough to defend themselves. He suspected that Remus was their mother's insurance that they wouldn't go looking for trouble.

Remus *had* said that Tonks would be one of the group, which would take some of the attention from the fact that Harry had company.

Together, the three of them had decided that it would be better for all of them that the explanations of what had happened since the thirty-first of July to wait until they were safely in London in Grimmauld Place. Since Harry's little trick for disguising Sirius earlier in the week had worked well, they were going to do something similar. Just the Dursleys wouldn't be there to raise hell the next morning. As if they ruckus that would be raised by Mrs. Weasley wouldn't be bad enough.

Instead of disguising Sirius as somebody younger, it was going to be Padfoot they were concealing. They had tried it once, while Remus was in Privet Drive, so that he could tell the others about the newest addition to Harry's menagerie, which included Hedwig, and the snake Sirius had found outside after Dudley was done 'playing' with it. The poor little snake had only survived because Harry could ask where it had been hurt, so that Sirius could heal its wounds. As thanks, the snake had agreed to go with them to London, because Sirius had big plans for Kreacher and the portrait of his mother. Harry was not adverse to these plans, either.

Harry was divided in his feelings about leaving Privet Drive. On one hand, he wanted every one of his friends to know that he'd gotten Sirius back. On the other, he was reluctant to leave this semi-paradise for the real world and the reality of war. He didn't want Sirius to get hurt; he wanted to protect him, keep him safe. But he knew he couldn't coop Sirius up like Dumbledore had.

Maybe, if he pleaded his case right, Harry would be able to give Sirius a disguise that would work to keep him at Hogwarts, where he would have more freedom. After all, he'd already demonstrated that he could mask magical signatures.

Still, Monster - Sirius had picked out his newest name - was a cute puppy. Harry had been able to control the age of Sirius' animagus form without changing Sirius himself. Even when he had changed back and forth from Sirius to Monster, the puppy form had stayed intact until Harry ended the magic. Monster's big paws were so large that he had tripped numerous times, entertaining Harry and Remus all through Sirius' denials that he had meant to do that.

Outside there came the sound of the trash cans banging around in back of the garage. Harry and Sirius looked at each other in exasperation.

"Tonks."

Sirius nodded to Harry, who closed his eyes, willing the magic to change the older man. It was becoming easier and easier to use the magic with his will without tiring him like it had the first time. Harry was thrilled to also know that he wasn't getting in trouble for using it.

A knock on the kitchen door sounded just as Sirius became Monster.

Monster yipped in agreement as Harry said, "looks like we're all set, aren't we?"

The door crashed open, revealing Tonks wearing a banana peel in her hair. "Hi, Harry! Sorry about the dustbins! Ready to go?"

Harry nodded, securing Monster under his arm and insuring the little snake was wrapped securely around his other wrist. "All set."


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! The wonderful, warm, fuzzy feelings I get inside when I read them help battle the cold winds of writer's block (amid other things)! Thank you!

Chapter 4

"Bloody cold out there, isn't it?" Ron asked Harry as soon as he stepped inside the door of 12 Grimmauld Place.

Harry shrugged and then stopped as the candles flickered as if in a tumultuous breeze.

"What's that?" Tonks asked as she unwound the muffler that lay around her neck.

Harry clutched Monster a little tighter as he whined slightly. He could feel faint tremors move through the house, flowing from one room to the next. Harry stayed still as the rest of the house moved quickly to secure the building.

"I think the house missed you, Siri," Harry whispered to Monster when the foyer was emptied of all but them.

Monster let out a small grunt.

As he did so, a movement sounded to Harry's left. He looked over in that direction to find Mrs. Black glaring at Monster as he lay in Harry's arms. Her glare turned to disgust as her attention moved to Harry.

"What is that, half-blood?" Mrs. Black demanded to know.

Harry sneered at the woman as he felt a deep-seated resentment bubble within him. Here was one of the people who had, essentially, abandoned Sirius because he refused to think like them.

"Answer me, boy!"

Green eyes turned to glare at the woman from where they had been resting thoughtfully on Monster.

"You will be quiet, *Mrs. Black,* when it pleases me."

The woman in the portrait opened her mouth just as Tonks walked back into the foyer.

"Harry?" the metamorphamagus asked. "Why didn't you go into the kitchen with Ron?"

Harry shrugged, even as he continued looking at the portrait of Sirius' mother.

"Harry? Har... Harry! Did you do that?" Tonks flew into the kitchen. "Moody!"

Monster yipped in Harry's arms, distracting him.

"Siri?"

Monster barked, as if reprimanding him for using that name just yet.

"Potter, just what did you do?" came Moody's voice, accompanied by the thunk of his wooden leg. Behind him were a passel of Weasleys and Snape.

All of them stopped suddenly when they caught sight of Mrs. Black's portrait. Sirius' mother's mouth was wide open and her fists were banging on an invisible shield. And there was not even a whisper of a sound coming from the painting.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley seemed to come around first. "What did you do?"

He shrugged. "I just told her to be quiet."

"A likely story, Potter," Snape said, snapped out of his stillness by the obvious chance to bait Harry. "And do you think that mutt will replace your mutt of a godfather?"

Monster growled as best he could is his puppy voice. Harry held on tight to him as Monster practically lunged at the slimy-haired man.

"Already a protector?" Snape sneered.

Harry opened his mouth, ready to rip into his potions professor himself, when the front door opened to reveal two jovial Weasley twins and harried looking Remus.

"Harry!" the twins cried. "You wouldn't believe what we've come up with in honor of your birthday!"

Remus rolled his eyes and came over to Harry. Leaning in, he said, "the headmaster will be arriving sometime tonight, but it will probably be pretty late."

"It's okay," Harry whispered. "We can do it in the morning."

"And what - " Snape started to say.

Moody stopped him. "Let's get Potter settled so Molly can feed us. Some of us have things to do tonight instead of talking."

The others filed out, leaving Harry, Remus, and Monster.

"Are you doing okay, Harry?" Remus asked as he gave Monster a scratch under his chin. The puppy leaned forward. "You always did like that spot."

"You coming up, Harry?" Ron called down the stairs. "You get your own bedroom since Fred and George are staying at the Burrow!"

Mrs. Weasley's voice came from down the hall, "RONALD WEASLEY!"

"Sorry, Mum!"

"Come talk to me later, okay?" Harry asked as he started up the stairs.

Remus nodded. "After dinner, all right?"

"Sure."

* * *

  


Sirius was very tempted by the idea to turn back into himself and scare Snape for what he had said to Harry earlier. At the moment, though, he was too comfortable to move. Harry still held him in his arms, even as they rose from the table. He'd gotten a few choice tidbits from Ginny, who'd taken the seat next to Harry in order to avoid Snape. 'Smart girl, that,' Sirius thought as he licked chops one last time. 'I hope she'll eventually cook like her mum. She'd be a catch for someone.'

"Hey, Harry," Ron said as the two sixteen-year-olds climbed the stairs an hour later. "Where did you find Monster?"

Harry laughed slightly - a good noise to Monster's ears - and said, "he followed me home on my birthday."

Ron grinned. "Better than what those Muggles ever did, huh?"

Monster growled at the thought of the Dursleys. He was just glad that Harry was away from them for another year. He settled down as a hand rubbed his ear, the fingers lightly roughed enough for him to know it was Remus.

"Ready, Harry?" the older man asked.

"What?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed.

"Harry and I need to talk about a couple of things that happened at the Dursleys. We want to figure out what Professor Dumbledore needs to know now and what can wait until later," Remus explained.

Ron nodded, his face showing his confusion. "Okay. We'll talk tomorrow then? 'Cause I was wondering who you thought was going to captain the quidditch team now that Angelina's gone." The red head's shoulders were slightly hunched in disappointment. He brightened a little as he said, "Hermione will be coming tomorrow, so maybe it'll be better this way."

Harry laughed, shaking Monster a little bit. "Yeah, Ron. That would be great." He turned towards Ron as they stopped at the red head's bedroom door. "Have a good night, Ron."

Ron smiled, "Good night, Harry. Professor Lupin."

"It's Remus, Ron."

" - R - Remus. Night, Monster."

Sirius gave a little yip before going silent in embarrassment. He wasn't very fond of this size because of such noises - he was used to having a booming bark as Padfoot. Well, he'd rather sound *young* that dead, so he would live with it.

As Remus shut the door to Harry's room, Monster jumped out of Harry's arms and transformed into Sirius. "Ah!" he sighed in relief as he stretched.

Remus shook his head as he sat down at the foot of the bed. Sirius looked at Harry, who was digging in his trunk for something.

"Did the trip go okay?" Remus asked as Sirius sat down in the small lounge chair.

"Pretty good," Sirius answered. "A little chilly, though."

"Yeah," Harry said as he straightened from his trunk. He held out a shirt to Sirius. "You might want to change your shirt before Professor Dumbledore gets here. Sirius. I don't think it'd be good for his health." A cheeky smile accompanied this statement.

Sirius opened his robes and looked down at his shirt, having forgotten which one he'd put on. No, Dumbledore would not like his 'Snivellus Sucks' t-shirt that he had transfigured from one of Dudley's when he'd realized his needed a clean shirt. Sirius looked at the shirt Harry held out to him. Modeled after the Marauder's Map, it read: 'Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs, Jr., Magical Joke Purveyors Extraordinaire.'

"Prongs, Jr.?" Remus asked, leaning over to read the front of the shirt.

"Only until I get my own nickname," Harry said as Sirius grinned over at him.

Sirius nodded, quasi-folding the shirt before laying it on his lap. "That's one of the things we - Harry and I - wanted to talk about with Dumbledore. I think it would be a good idea for Harry to become an animagus for protection."

Remus frowned thoughtfully. "That would be good to see if you can do that, Harry. Plus, because your father was an animagus, it raises the chances that you can manage the transfiguration successfully. It might even shorten the length of time needed if McGonagall helps you."

"Would she help?" Harry asked as he settled himself on the floor near the head of the bed. Sirius wondered if he was part cat - having been thinking what animal Harry would become - by the way he sprawled bonelessly on the floor.

Remus nodded in answer.

Sirius looked at the two on the other side of the room. It was quite similar to a memory of twenty years ago, when the Marauders hung about the dorm Sunday evenings, catching up while pretending to finish their homework. He shook himself of the memory, determined not to fall into the trap of thinking Harry was James. As he'd learned over the last couple of days, there was a lot more of Lily in her son than just the color of her eyes. Yes, Harry was almost the spitting image of his father, but the likeness went no further than physical.

"Siri?" Harry asked, truly bringing him out of his thoughts. "Did you want to sleep in here or in Remus' room?"

He shrugged. "Any further word on when Dumbledore will get here?"

"No," Remus said. "The last we knew - and he as well - was that the last of the meetings/ceremonies wouldn't get out until mid-to-late evening. Even if he apparated directly here from France, Dumbledore would get here around midnight."

"Too late," Sirius said, "considering how much we have to discuss."

Harry yawned suddenly, as if proving the point. Sirius tried to hide his smirk and failed.

"Time for bed, I think," Remus stated as he stood. "I'll come get you when Molly starts breakfast - if not before - and we can find out when to talk to Dumbledore."

"Good night, Remus," Sirius grinned at his friend.

"Good night," Harry echoed, almost cutting himself off with another yawn.

"Good night," Remus said, closing the door behind him.

Harry yawned again.

"Why don't you change while I make my bed?" Sirius suggested.

Harry turned to him as he pulled his shirt off. "Why don't you just make the bed bigger, Siri? I don't mind, and it won't look as weird if anyone opens the door."

Sirius looked at him blankly for a second as he watched the play of muscles under Harry's skin as he reached for the pants he used for sleeping in.

"Siri?"

He shook himself, realizing he'd just been checking Harry out. Taking a deep breath to try and cleanse his thought, he said in a semi-blank tone, "I'll do that, then." Harry gave another look and dropped his pants. And Sirius was hard put to keep his jaw from dropping and eyes boggling. It took all his years of getting away with things at Hogwarts to save him from terrifying Harry.

"Should I..." he trailed off again. Sirius swallowed and tried to purify his thoughts with a picture of an enraged Lily and James. "Should I be Monster?"

Harry slid into the soft, cotton pants. "No. We should have enough warning if somebody knocks for you to change if you have to. But if you want to, go right ahead." He looked over at Sirius. "You going to get ready?"

Sirius slowly nodded and forced himself to get off the bed. He quickly enlarged it and shucked off his shirt. Twisting, he reached for the shirt Harry had gotten out for him.

Cool fingers on his midsection stopped him cold.

"Sorry for startling you," Harry said behind him. "I just noticed that your ribs aren't showing like they were a couple of days ago."

He turned to face Harry. "You noticed?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly under the pressure of the fingers till on his ribs. He took a deep breath and the fingers left.

"Yeah," Harry answered as he twisted and turned down the bed.

While he wasn't looking, Sirius shuddered at the warm tendrils of something - he wasn't going to call it desire - ran through him. He took a gulping breath and dropped his pants. Swiftly changing into a modified pair of Harry's old pajama pants, he turned to find Harry already in bed. The position he was in meant that Sirius would have to crawl over Harry.

Steeling himself, Sirius quickly climbed over Harry.

"Sorry, Siri," Harry apologized in a small voice.

"No..." Sirius swallowed as he brushed up against Harry, trying to get into bed. "No problem."

Sirius lay as still as he could once Harry turned off the light. He tried to be quiet as he listened to Harry's breathing as it settled into a slow and steady cadence. Letting out a deep breath and knowing Harry was asleep, he berated himself for his earlier dirty thoughts.

He wondered just what the reaction would be if Harry ever found out he had had - was having - lustful thoughts about if. Or if Remus found out. Or, horror of horrors, Molly Weasley suddenly knew what he'd been thinking half an hour ago. Harry was his godson by James and Lily's appointment. True, he hadn't exactly been involved in his godson's upbringing, but still.... It would cause problems galore for both him *and* Harry, who was innocent of all of it.

Sirius rolled over to look at the wall, trying to get away from his thoughts.

When he had first broken out of Azkaban, all he had thought about was protecting Harry from Wormtail. That first glimpse of him had settled some of the turbulence within him, as the thirteen-year-old had rummaged through his trunk. He had looked so much like James it was uncanny, because when he'd been little, Harry hadn't really looked like either of his parents, but for his hair and eyes. It had heartened him in his cause by getting that quick look. It was enough to power his journey up to Scotland. Yes, revenge against Wormtail for what he had done played a big part in that, but Harry was always number one in his thoughts from that moment on.

It hadn't been until this past year, when Harry had arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place angry at the world, that Sirius had been forced to change his way of thinking. All of a sudden, here was a strong boy who acted nothing like his father - as much as Sirius wished it to be - and more of an adult who has really never known just who he is.

He had been pained when Harry had admitted his didn't know what he wanted to do when he got out of school. Sirius secretly thought that Harry didn't exactly think he would survive his seventh year at Hogwarts. And that was probably true with knowing the prophecy.

When the confusion of falling into the veil had cleared somewhat, all Sirius had thought of - *could* think of - was that Harry must be devastated. Here Sirius had vowed to be with Harry and be his family and then he was gone just like his parents before him. Then came Harry through the darkness of the veil, looking like an avenging angel and his mother on a tear all rolled up into one, and being the one to rescue *him.*

That first night, Harry had clung to him in his sleep, as if his subconscious was making sure he was truly there. That everything was all right now and he could rest. Harry had told him later that that had been the first night since the fight in the Ministry that he'd been able to sleep the entire night through. Sirius had silently wept inside with despair at the admission.

Now, though, he was lying next to Harry and back to where he'd begun. And why tonight, of all nights, had he suddenly been struck with Harry as a young man and not as the godson he'd known?

Thus began a vicious cycle of naughty thoughts and self-remonstration for those thoughts.

The first tendril of light creeping under the door was what first alerted him to someone approaching the room.

"Harry!" he whispered in the other's ear. "Someone's coming!"

"Hm?" Harry half woke up as Sirius swiftly changed into Monster.

Footsteps approached quietly. The door was pushed open with a soft click. It swung around to reveal Molly Weasley. The red headed woman looked quickly at the bed.

"Did I wake you, Harry?" she asked as he sat up.

Harry shook his head as he petted Monster on the head. Sirius didn't know whether to lean into the touch or not, considering the thoughts he'd been having all evening.

"What time is it?" Harry asked, sleepily.

"Six o'clock, dear. Remus asked me to get you up while he went to go pick up Fred and George."

"Oh. Is Professor Dumbledore here yet?"

Molly nodded. "He got in around two. I know you and Remus wanted to talk to him, so I'll start some breakfast for you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley."

The redhead shut the door and her footsteps receded down the hallway.

Sirius changed back once he jumped onto the floor.

"Siri?"

He looked over at Harry, who looked adorable - *adorable!?* - with sleep lines from the pillow across his right cheek.

"Did you get any sleep last night?"

Sirius shrugged. "Couldn't sleep, really." He turned and grabbed his trousers. He pulled off the pajama pants and stopped. Turning around, he asked, "Do you think I could get in my room without getting noticed this early in the morning? As much as I appreciate borrowing yours, well, Dudley's really, I liked my boxers better."

He looked at Harry, whose face was bright red. "Harry? You okay?" He looked down and saw everything was were it should be, thank Merlin for nothing to indicate his thoughts were still firmly in the gutter concerning Harry.

"Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "I'm alright," he said in a strangled voice. "Just realized something. That's all."

"You sure?"

Harry nodded. "I'm fine."

Sirius just looked at him for a little longer. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but he knew he wouldn't find out exactly what did for a long time.

* * *

  


Harry splashed his face with cold water as soon as the door shut on the bathroom. God, he was such an idiot.

He really hadn't thought about Sirius' reaction last night when he'd touched him. But then he found out that the older man hadn't slept last night. And all of a sudden he starts talking about his boxers while wearing a pair of Harry's.

And Harry suddenly realized Sirius was a man.

And Cho Chang had been replaced by an escaped, wrongly imprisoned convict twenty years older than him in his fantasies.

Harry had sworn time and time again that the world was out to get him. This proved him right all along.

He went through his ablutions mechanically, thinking about all that had happened last night. Oh God, he touched Sirius last night. What must he think? Harry hadn't meant anything by it at all, just that he'd been so surprised by the sight of Sirius' ribs not showing. Even when Harry had brought him back, there'd been some ravage left from Azkaban. And there was no way Aunt Petunia's cooking put that much meat onto Sirius' bones. Oh, shouldn't think that.

And what about his crush on Cho? Even if *that* was dead, what did this mean?

"Harry?" came Ron's voice on the other side of the door. "You gonna be in there all day? 'Cause Mum told me I have to take a shower before breakfast an' I'm hungry!"

Harry had to laugh in spite of the situation and almost choked on his toothbrush. He spit his toothpaste out quickly and opened the door. He found his friend holding his rumbling stomach.

The redhead laughed himself and pointed at Harry's face. "You might want to wash you face, Harry. Snape would say you're rabid and'll have to be put down."

Harry ducked back inside to look in the mirror and saw he still had toothpaste in a circle around his mouth. Grabbing a towel, he hurriedly wiped his mouth and chucked it over the towel bar.

"All yours, Ron," he said as he dashed out and down the stairs. All thoughts of Sirius, well, weird thoughts of him, were pushed aside as he heard Monster yipping and Remus telling him to stop barking at Snape.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: I've added a little section to the end of Chapter 4, which should be read before starting this chapter. It was originally slated to be in this chapter, but it made more sense to be at the end of 4.

Chapter 5

As Harry reached the bottom of the stairs, a sleepy Bill and a yawning Ginny greeted him. Down the hall from the kitchen came the voices of an exuberant Fred and George, as well as the sound of Mrs. Wealsey scolding them for something that he couldn't quite make out.

"Morning," he greeted the two in front of him.

Bill nodded, muttering, "Fred and George are too happy this morning." He broke off with a yawn. "Sorry. I need some coffee."

Harry looked over at Ginny, who was almost asleep on her feet. "Why're you up so early?"

Ginny opened her eyes up just enough to glare at Harry. "Mum. She wants to clean mine and Hermione's room before she gets here, and guess who gets to help."

"Sorry," Harry awkwardly said. He didn't know if he could handle an angry Ginny this morning. He gave a sigh of relief as she shook her head and stormed into the kitchen. Turning towards the kitchen himself, he gave a flippant little wave to Sirius' mother, who sneered at him, all the while pounding on the picture frame.

As he stepped past the study, he was joined by Remus and Monster, who was growling at Snape behind them.

"Good morning, Harry," Remus greeted.

Monster yipped in agreement as Harry scratched his ears. "Good morning," Harry replied. "Do you have to take Fred and George to their store this morning?"

Remus shook his head, pushing open the door to the kitchen. "No. Bill volunteered to take them so we could talk to the headmaster."

Snape snorted as he brushed past them to take a seat on the far end of the table, next to where Professor McGonagall was talking to Mr. Weasley. Harry and Remus sat next to the door unnoticed by the twins and Mrs. Weasley, and Bill was already guzzling some coffee. They had just poured some juice when all hell broke loose.

Fred and George jumped out of their seats, knocking into Ginny, who'd dozed off into her hand. She went flying into Snape, who snarled as the twins bounced over to Harry. Meanwhile, Bill was startled enough to spew what was left of his coffee onto his parents. Mr. Weasley leaned over into Professor McGonagall, who bumped into Snape. The potions master, already off-balanced by Ginny toppling into him, fell down under the weight of the slight girl, bellowing loudly at Fred and George.

In the midst of it all, Harry kept Monster clutched tightly to his chest and stood against the wall, as Remus stood protectively in front of him.

And then, in the middle of the chaos, in strolls Professor Dumbledore, resplendent in flowing aqua robes covered in roaring dragons that spit fabric flames.

"Good morning, everyone!"

For a moment, the kitchen was silent and still as they stared at the headmaster, who was unusually happy.

Monster yipped, breaking the silence and setting everyone into motion.

Harry scratched him on the head as he looked at Remus. They nodded together at each other and slid out of the room as Snape yelled about two miscreants named Fred and George. Just below that was Mrs. Weasley screaming at said twins.

"What's going on?"

Harry and Remus turned to find Ron standing behind them, his hair a dark red from his shower. Ron's eyes were drawn to the kitchen door as Bill staggered out, dragging a bruised Ginny. One eye was rapidly swelling and turning the pale skin around it a fantastic color purple.

"I wouldn't go in there," the tall curse breaker stated. "Mum's in full rant mode and it doesn't look pretty."

"Why?" Ron asked.

"Fred and George," the other four said all at the same time.

Harry laughed as Ron's eyes widened with the realization.

There was a loud band and then it fell silent in the kitchen. The five of them paused a bit before Remus suggested, "Should we look?"

Monster gave a little bark in agreement. Harry looked at him, almost having forgotten he was holding the small puppy in his arms.

Remus pushed open the door to reveal Dumbledore looming over the twins. Snape stood nearby, holding an ice pack to his temple and the side of his head. Professor McGonagall and Mr. Weasley were quietly cleaning up a mess of shattered dishes.

Mrs. Weasley, spotting her daughter's eye, gave a small yelp of concern before racing over to Ginny and pulling her from the room, presumably to treat her.

Dumbledore nodded to Remus and then looked at Harry. The headmaster stopped in the middle of a nod as he caught sight of Monster lying in Harry's arms. He visibly shook himself and beckoned the twins to follow him out the door.

"Remus. Harry. I'll talk to you after we eat, then?" With that, the headmaster guided Fred and George out of the kitchen.

After they had finished eating, Harry let Ron know where they would be before the three of them left the kitchen. Harry let Monster loose when Remus closed the door of the study. Dumbledore stood by the desk, his face a lot more sober than it had been when the headmaster had entered the kitchen.

"I presume he is one of the things you wished to talk about?" Dumbledore asked, nodding in Monster's direction.

Remus nodded. "Yes. If you would, Monster?"

Monster shook himself before turning back into Sirius.

Dumbledore took a step back, his shock written all over his face. Hands trembling, he reached for the arms of a chair as he sat down.

"What...?" he muttered, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "How is this possible?"

Sirius sat down on the chair next to Harry's. "I wasn't dead when I fell behind the veil," he tried to explain.

"How did you get out from it, though?" Dumbledore asked. "No one who has fallen through the veil has ever returned."

Sirius shrugged. "Harry - "

"What!" shouted Dumbledore.

" - Came and got me."

The headmaster turned to Harry. "Just what, exactly, did you do, Harry?" His blue eyes were stern.

Harry sighed. He had guessed correctly how Dumbledore was going to react. Steeling himself for the questions that would come when he finished, Harry began explaining the events of his sixteenth birthday.

* * *

  


Sirius sat back in his chair, amused by what was happening before him. It had been decided, by really only Dumbledore, that he would just show up at the meeting they were having later in the afternoon at the appropriate point. The headmaster would think of something suitable to say, but only after Harry had insisted that he'd rather kiss a dragon than explain all of this to Snape. Dumbledore had looked sternly at him, but hadn't said anything. Snape, Harry pointed out, was unlikely to believe anything to come out of his mouth. 

That would happen anyhow, but both Sirius and Harry would feel better about it.

Which brought him to the present. Well, what had led up to this point. Remus had carried him into the room in the form of Monster, Harry trailing behind. Snape and Molly had both protested Harry's being there, but for different reasons. No one else had voiced any objections, thought only Tonks greeted them in a welcoming tone. Harry had still lagged behind them, uncomfortable to be in the group of adults without his two friends, who were, most likely, holed up somewhere with the twins trying, in vain, to listen in.

Dumbledore quickly called the meeting to order, quelling any further protestations. He paused briefly after listening to the various field reports before detailing what Harry had told him earlier about the events in the Ministry building, leaving out certain details until the end. He paused again and looked at Monster, who climbed off of Remus' lap - though he didn't want to, as it was warm because of the werewolf metabolism. Once he was down, he quickly turned back, standing between Remus and Harry's chairs.

As soon as he was standing, Tonks was suddenly sobbing into his shoulder. Sirius hugged her as he ignored Snape's disgusted ranting about how there wasn't any true justice. The rest of the Order was chatting among themselves, until Moody loudly cleared his throat.

Once everything was quiet, Moody stood up and asked, "so exactly how did this happen? Will anymore people be coming back from the other side of the veil?"

Dumbledore raised his hand for silence as the others murmured to each other. "Shacklebolt reported that the Death Chamber, as well as several others, has been sealed since the thirty-first. Is that correct?"

Shacklebolt nodded, his bald head gleaming in the candlelight. "Yes. Both Tonks and I helped seal that particular door, along with other aurors. If someone was going to break the seal, it would take a couple of days for even two people. Baxter Meredith, who is in charge of the break-in under Wizengamot orders, said that it also would be guarded after business hours. The list of guards is in the report from Monday."

Dumbledore thanked him and quickly ended the meeting as everybody clumped into smaller groups to discuss the evening's events.

And that brought him up to the moment. Sirius still had Tonks clutching onto him even as he had seated himself. Next to him, Remus was chatting to Bill Weasley about something or another, but it sounded like the events they had discussed in Harry's bedroom a couple of days ago. What was amusing him, though, was Snape arguing with Dumbledore, at whose side stood Harry. The sixteen-year-old was waffling between anger and embarrassment.

Harry was shuffling slightly as he looked back at Sirius, who threw a quick grin at him before watching as Snape stormed from the room.

"Severus!" Dumbledore called uselessly.

Sirius shuffled Tonks off his shoulder, her sobs having finally quieted. "I'll be right back," he whispered. Sitting Tonks in his chair, he made his way over to Harry and Dumbledore.

"What was that all about?"

The headmaster shook his head. "Severus is not happy about what he heard tonight," Dumbledore said. "I suspected it might happen, but I had hoped he would not react in such a manner."

He was cut off as a frustrated bellow sounded in the front hall. "I want out of the damn house!"

Sirius looked through the now open doors into the hallway. Not seeing anything in the immediate area, he moved out of the room, with Harry and Dumbledore, and then some of the others followed slowly.

He stopped at the sight of Snape sending all manner of curses and hexes at the front door, which was beginning to glow with the amount of magic hitting it. Sirius looked at Harry, whose head was tilted to one side, as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Severus!" Dumbledore said as he strode over to calm the potions master down.

"This damn house won't let me apparate OR out the front door!" Severus yelled loudly. "And I bet it's Potter's fault!"

"Now, Severus," Dumbledore began. "I'm sure - "

"Actually, Professor," Harry interrupted. "I think it is me."

All those in the hall turned to stare at Harry. Well, Sirius looked on confused as Snape glared at Harry.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked. "What do you mean?"

"Um," Harry shrugged his shoulders.

Snape snorted. "Are you trying to humiliate me, Potter?"

"As if you need help," Sirius suggested, tired of listening to Snape blame Harry for his and James' mistakes.

Dumbledore sparked his wand. "Gentlemen!" he commanded. "We will settle this situation once and for all."

Sirius sulked as the headmaster ushered Harry, Remus, Snape and himself into the study. Dumbledore cast several wards on the room. Then he turned icy blue eyes on the group. Snape was on one side of the room, practically foaming at the mouth, and the rest of them gathered on the large sofa.

"Now," Dumbledore started. "I believe that I stated a year and a half ago that you would have to work together. However, I now know that none of you will work through what has happened in the past without intervention.

"Severus, I gave you the opportunity to teach Harry Occlumancy for you to realize that he is not his father. I know that Harry did violate your privacy by looking in your pensieve. I believed that both of you would overcome your dislike of each other enough to work together. And you have not."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius, who felt like squirming under the intense gaze.

"And you, Sirius, have exacerbated the problem in recent years by defending Harry and James to Severus. Neither needs defending - James _because_ he is dead, and Harry can do it himself. Plus there is the addition of you luring Severus to the Shrieking Shack in your sixth year. I have come to regret not letting you tell Severus your reasons when it happened, since it has festered all these years."

The headmaster paused. "I do not find much fault in you, Remus, other than your inability to ignore Severus' comments."

Sirius looked at his friend, who had also begun to squirm. He then looked at Snape, who was clearly uncomfortable with the entire thing. Harry, though, was sitting straight-faced - Sirius shouldn't think that way, today - as if he'd sat through many lectures like this before.

He brought his attention back to Dumbledore when it was clear that he was done for the moment. The other three were silent as well, so Sirius took this time to contemplate.

Remus was his last, best friend from Hogwarts. When Sirius had been able to prove he was innocent, he had thought they could go back to how they used to be. But there had been too much water under the bridge for that to happen, and so the two of them had forged an even stronger friendship than before. The road had been a little rough at times, but it had most definitely been worth it.

Harry... he would think about Harry - his _godson,_ no less - later.

That meant it was Snape. Snivellus. The slimy git. In order to really think about him, Sirius was going to have to think about his own family. He didn't want to do that just yet. So, he would try to be civil, if only he was being forced to do so.

He was glad of that idea when Dumbledore outlined what he wanted them to do.

Snape jumped out of his seat, where he had been sulking. "I refuse to teach that brat any more Occlumancy! It's harder than getting rid of Black's fleas."

Sirius jumped to his feet. "Maybe if you didn't hold his father against him, maybe he wouldn't resent you teaching him."

Snape opened his mouth to retort, but Dumbledore cut in.

"I am not changing my mind on this. Harry needs to protect himself from Voldemort until the time comes."

Sirius growled at this, knowing just exactly what the headmaster meant by that.

"I am serious about all four of you working together on this, seeing as all of you will be at Hogwarts this coming school year. Remus and I had already discussed his helping Hagrid this year, as he will need to look more and more after the Forbidden Forest. The centaurs have already decimated two clearings used by other creatures in the forest."

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry asked as the headmaster paused for breath. "Is Grawp okay? He.... I mean he helped Hermione and I...."

The headmaster nodded. "He is fine, Harry. A little scratched, but Hagrid patched him up."

"Just who or what is a Grawp?" Remus asked in a curious voice. "I don't remember you mentioning anything such as this."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Grawp is Hagrid's younger brother, and has been recently been helping with the centaurs."

Snape snorted. "As if one giant and a half-giant are enough to guard against marauding centaurs on the warpath?"

"Hagrid's part giant?" Sirius asked, ignoring the remark about the name they had for their little group in school.

"It came out in my second year, Sirius," Harry answered.

"A little behind the times, Black?" Snape practically spit his ugly teeth out with the name.

Sirius scowled. "Forgive me, _Severus,_ but I was a little busy at the time serving time for a crime I didn't commit!" He stood up, his fists clenched tightly. He was just _tired_ of Snape's remarks.

Snape stood and stepped towards Sirius. "You deserved it for what you tried to do to me!"

"Gentlemen!" Dumbledore thundered.

Sirius turned to the headmaster, his sides heaving with the effort not to punch Snape in his big nose.

"We will settle this later at Hogwarts." Dumbledore let out an unusual sigh. "I will require all of you to join me at the school a week before the term begins, at which point we well discuss what we need to do to hide Sirius. Dumbledore practically glared at Sirius and Snape, his blue eyes wintry cold. "I don't care how you settle your frustrations with each other after we have examined your behaviors, but until then, do not touch each other. I want each of you to follow through with what I have suggested, but I doubt either one of you will do so.

The headmaster turned to Snape. "Now, Severus, I will ask you to stay here tonight so that we may discuss what you want to do next. After that, you may stay wherever you wish."

Dumbledore looked at Sirius after Snape nodded at the headmaster, sneered at the other three in the room, and left through hard-shutting doors.

"Sirius, I want you to think of anything that is in this house that may be useful as a trap for the Death Eaters. We have learned they are looking for Dark artifacts, and we may be able to lure at least a couple of them if we have any."

Sirius nodded and looked at Harry and Remus, the two of them still seated on the sofa. Remus looked tired, but Harry seemed as if he was elsewhere.

"Remus, please help Sirius with this." Remus nodded as the headmaster continued. "I'd also like for you to give Harry and the other children some Defense lessons, if you would."

"I will," Remus replied, rising from the sofa.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

Sirius could see that the young man hadn't heard the headmaster.

"Harry?"

Startled green eyes looked up at the three men. Sirius was suddenly struck by just how mature Harry was with that thoughtful look upon his face. He also looked so much like his mother that it almost hurt, even though he hadn't been half as close to Lily as he had James. Sirius gave a shaky grin as Harry looked at him.

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked again. "I'd like for you to continue doing your Occlumancy exercises. I will help you a bit. Once school starts, however, Professor Snape will continue them. Also, your friends do not know that Sirius is alive - I put a secrecy charm over the meeting so that the others cannot tell anyone that was not at the meeting. I wish for you to keep this from them until we have decided where Sirius will be, come the start of school."

Harry glowered more and more as the headmaster spoke. "Of course, I'll keep it from them," he answered in a biting, sarcastic tone reminiscent of last summer. "And I don't mind you breaking your promise to me either!"

Harry jumped off the sofa and was out the door before Sirius could stop him.

* * *

  


Harry slammed the door to his room shut and leaned against it. He should have known that Dumbledore would go back on his promise to teach Harry Occlumancy. More and more he was having a hard time trusting the headmaster, and this was just one more example of why he couldn't.

The first week of summer, he had been practicing his Occlumancy hard, wanting to show Dumbledore just how much he could do, hoping that it would be enough. The apathy he'd felt at the Ministry had been enough to block Voldemort from totally taking over, and had been much better than anything Snape had managed to teach him.

And now....

It was like when he'd been growing up, always hoping that it would get better and Aunt Petunia would, for once, treat Harry like she did Dudley. That maybe he would somehow be welcomed into the family, because he was trying his hardest to fit in. But it never happened.

Harry moved over to the bed and crawled in, shoes and all. He wanted to bury himself in the covers and forget the world for days on end, but knew it wasn't possible.

A knock sounded on the door, along with a canine whimper.

"Harry?" came Remus' voice. "Monster wants to go in there."

Harry sighed. He didn't want _any_one around, let alone Sirius, but he knew he couldn't keep him out.

The door opened and Remus stuck his head around. "Harry?"

He shook his head. "You might as well let him in, Remus."

The other man nodded, his face a study of concern. "Mrs. Weasley is serving supper, if you want any."

"No," Harry said. "I don't want to go down there." He looked away from the door.

There was the sound of nails clicking on the floor as the door shut.

"Harry?" Sirius asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Harry turned over to face the wall. "I don't want to talk about it."

A heavy hand rested on his shoulder. "You sure?"

He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, but the hand didn't move. Instead, it rested there another minute before leaving. Harry was tempted to see if Sirius was going to move as the weight shifted off the bed, but all of a sudden there was a dip behind him. Sirius' body heat indicated he was a scant inch behind Harry, bringing back all of the embarrassing thoughts he'd had this morning.

"Harry?"

Harry didn't say anything as he tried to will his hot cheeks back to a normal temperature.

"I just wanted to say that I'm here whenever you need it. I may not be able to help, but I will try." Sirius sighed, his breath hot on the back of Harry's neck. "I will always be here for you."

Harry shivered slightly, trying to hold back whatever this was he was feeling. He felt strangely hot and cold at the same time, and there was an incredible itch crawling over his skin as Sirius breathed on his neck again. Twisting to face Sirius, he looked at the older man's face.

"Harry?" Sirius' eyes were wide with something that Harry couldn't read, and there was a slight tremor to his voice. Was he feeling like Harry was - this unnamable emotion that was driving him to reach out and touch Sirius on the cheek.

"Harry!?" Sirius' voice was strangled as Harry ran his hand over his cheek, the pads of his finger brushing against the faint stubble that lay in the skin.

Sirius closed his eyes as Harry reached his brow.

The itch was spreading the more he touched Sirius' skin, consuming Harry until instinct took over and he kissed the older man.

It was nothing more than a soft brush of lips, hot breath exchanging between the two.

Harry paused a second, and when there was no response from Sirius, he pushed his lips against his a second time, the heat moving up and down his body overwhelming him.

This time, after a second, Sirius moved his lips in response, quickly taking charge of the kiss. Harry had no problem with that, as he wasn't sure of what to do, only that he needed to kiss Sirius.

Wet lips slid against each other before Sirius darted his tongue against Harry's bottom lip, breaking free the groan that had been building. Harry reached for Sirius, his hand sliding into the older man's hair to hold him close, as Sirius' tongue moved inside his mouth, searching out every crevice and nook within. Shyly moving his tongue in reciprocation, Harry earned himself a moan as it slid across Sirius' upper lip.

There was a sudden knock on the door, and the sound of Ron calling, "Harry? I got some dinner for you."

Harry stopped where he was as Sirius pulled back, his eyes darker than Harry had ever seen. They were panicked and darted around the room, searching for something that was definitely not him.

"Harry?" The doorknob rattled from the outside, but didn't twist all the way. "You okay, mate?"

"Yeah," Harry managed to squeak out of his suddenly closed throat. "I want to be alone, is all."

"You sure?" Ron's voice held concern. "Cause if you want to talk, I can come in, even though we don't share a room anymore."

"No!" Harry shouted, his eyes struggling to meet Sirius' in vain. He hurriedly corrected himself to his friend. "I just need to think things over, about what Dumbledore talked to me about tonight after the meeting."

"Can you tell me about it, then?" Ron's voice was eager, but all Harry could think about was the man next to him in bed that was totally ignoring him.

"Tomorrow, Ron," Harry said in a sad voice. "Good night, Ron."

"G'night, then." Ron's heavy footsteps faded into the distance, making Harry wonder how they couldn't NOT have heard them.

And how he and Sirius would work out what had just happened between them. Because he most definitely wanted it to happen again.


	6. Chapter 6

Brief AN: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I apologize for taking so long to get this chapter up, but I started a new job and continued with the old one, so I don't have a lot of time to devote to writing at the moment. It will probably be another month before I get the next chapter up. *ducks rotten fruit flying at head.* I've never been to London, so please forgive any mistakes made on my part of locations of places.

Chapter 6

Sirius backed up against the wall, willing a hole in the ground to just open up underneath him. Merlin, but what had he just done? What had Harry just done?

Harry stared back up at him, lips cherry red and cheeks flushed pink. There was a wild look in his green eyes, and his hair was an even bigger mess from Sirius' fingers running through it.

It had felt so soft, though, as if he were petting the finest mink coat in the world. And his lips had tasted like cinnamon and apples, like coming home to Hogwarts in the fall when they would serve fresh apple pie, which was Sirius' favorite.

He was doomed.

"Siri?" Harry's voice was shaky yet jubilant.

Sirius turned away from the sight of Harry and forced a couple of breaths through his nose. He heard the bed creak, and hoped that Harry was still on it.

His wish wasn't granted when a warm hand landed on his shoulder and Harry rested his chin on Sirius' shoulder. "I'm sorry that I kissed you like that, but I'm not sorry that it happened."

Sirius turned shocked eyes at the younger man.

"I feel comfortable with you," Harry said in a low voice, his green eyes shining in the lamplight. "I like being with you, and I want to always be with you."

He closed his eyes, feeling Harry's warmth seep through him. He didn't want this, and yet.... Yet, he craved this more than anything, needed it more than anything.

And it was all wrong. He needed to tell Harry that they couldn't do this. He had been appointed by James and Lily to protect their son, not to shag him. Even if he really wanted to at the moment. No, it was immoral.

Sirius opened his eyes to find Harry watching him, an intense look in those green eyes. How could he tell him what he wanted to say? He knew that Harry had grown up with practically no affection towards him at all. He had wanted to roar at the Dursleys for treating Harry like a freak, like he wasn't even human. And then Sirius wanted to yell at Arabella Figg for hardly paying attention to the little boy she used to babysit.

But the young man in front of him was being as open as Sirius could ever remember. Harry was being honest about his feelings. So why couldn't Sirius be the same way?

A sigh escaped him as he opened his mouth.

"Harry." It came out dry, as if his throat didn't want to work in tandem with his brain. "I feel comfortable with you, too. I just... I just want you to think over this." He hurried when Harry opened his mouth to retort. "I mean, last Christmas you were going on about Cho and your first kiss, and all of a sudden you're kissing me."

Sirius stopped, not sure of what else to say. He looked at Harry, whose eyes had darkened.

"I just want you to think over this."

Harry bent his head. "You don't want me like this? 'Cause you did kiss me back." He raised his head to look straight into Sirius' eyes. Those green eyes glimmered in the dim light, as if Harry was trying not to let anything out, like he was holding everything back because he would get hurt.

No. There was no way he was going to say anything to Harry, just because of the look in those eyes. Lily and James might sent him to hell when he ever did meet them, but he was not going to _ever_ hurt Harry. _Never._

"Harry," Sirius began in a soft voice. "Let's go to sleep and we can talk in the morning. I know you're tired... I'm tired." He reached up a hand and squeezed Harry's shoulder lightly. "Besides, I know that Remus will be in here, first thing in the morning, to make sure we get something to eat."

Harry gave a lopsided smile at Sirius' half-whine about the parenting instincts of certain werewolves that would go unnamed. Sirius congratulated himself at that. At least Harry wasn't being broody and irritable.

******

Harry snuggled further into the warmth at his side. He could smell the fresh grass smell he had come to associate with Sirius right under his nose as he buried it in the man's side.

Taking this silent moment to just lay there, he wondered at his audacity last night. Harry would probably have never really said those things if he had taken the time to think about it. The Dursleys certainly wouldn't have let him speak like that. On top of that, Harry rarely ever got the chance to be just himself unless it was with Hermione and Ron. And then, when he was with his two friends, he often felt stifled by them. Harry loved the two dearly, but he would never have said so. Hermione's intelligence frankly scared him most of the time, not that he would ever admit that. And Ron was insecure in his own right about having to make a name for himself that wasn't associated with any of his brothers or with Harry himself.

But he _was_ comfortable with Sirius. He always had been, even when he found out just how much of a jerk Sirius had been when he was in school. Harry felt good in a way that he never had.

And that kiss last night.…

Damn, but Sirius was a good kisser. Even if Harry didn't have much experience at all with kissing, he knew that was a true fact. His first kiss was better relegated to a dustbin in the recesses of his mind, seeing as how Cho hadn't been the best person he could have started his dating career with.

Harry moved slightly more into Sirius' side, who responded with a little grumble of protest. Harry hid a grin at that, knowing Sirius wasn't exactly a morning person from their time spent at the Dursley household the past week. He didn't like that about Ron, but it was more than fine for Sirius.

He took a deep breath and tried to relax as Sirius' arm fell into his lap. He carefully moved it off, knowing he couldn't handle something like that. Harry wanted to see just what Dumbledore had in mind before they... well, Harry wanted to do something like.

His face flushed as his thoughts wandered down paths they shouldn't. But sometimes his hormones got the best of him. Or worst. Damn, but it sucked to be sixteen sometimes.

"Harry?" Sirius sleepily asked, his breath brushing Harry's ear, making his shiver just the tiniest bit. "You awake?"

Harry hummed an agreement. Bugger his hormones anyway.

Sirius sat up and looked back at Harry. "You didn't have to stay here. I probably would have slept through you getting up."

Harry felt his face flush ever further. He mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Sirius asked, his confusion plain on his face.

"Was comfortable," Harry repeated in a louder voice.

Sirius' face flushed as well. "Oh."

An awkward silence grew between them. Harry shifted slightly before sitting up; he was just behind Sirius when he came to a stop.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"What do we do now?"

Sirius shrugged and looked down into his lap. "Do you still want...?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. Just not sure what to do is all."

"Neither do I," Sirius said. Harry looked at him. The older man shrugged. "Well, I was in Azkaban for twelve years. Anything remotely having to do with dating got sucked out by the Dementors. Then there's the fact that I went to school with your parents - hell, was your father's best friend - and appointed your godfather."

Harry thought about it for a minute. "Sirius, I don't have a problem about any of that." He shrugged slightly, tilting his head to the side. "I mean, if anyone would have a problem, it'd be us, right? Besides, you didn't actually raise me, so that isn't a big deal."

"I wanted to, though," Sirius countered in a sad voice.

"Do you now, though?" Harry had to ask.

Sirius shook his head. "No. I do want to take care of you, though."

Harry grinned and leaned forward just enough to rest his chin on Sirius' shoulder. "I'll take you up on that."

******

Sirius tiredly put the last book away for the night. He and Remus had been looking through the last of the books in the study, trying to find useful spells. There weren't a lot, but they'd also determined which books they could use as bait. He was pretty sure his cousins would vie for a couple of them, if they found out about them.

He had plans for Bellatrix especially, but Narcissa was high on Sirius' list for revenge as well. His bitch for a cousin, though, was responsible for his 'death,' and Sirius wanted to use that to his advantage. He would start his plan as soon as they got to Hogwarts in two days. He needed to look up the spell at the library. Azkaban had shot his memory of all things, not just dating, and Remus had never even heard of the spell.

Sirius was grateful that they were leaving for Hogwarts soon, even if he had to deal with Snape. It was wearing Sirius down, having to stay as Monster most of the time during the day when he wasn't locked into the study with Remus. He was lucky that Harry had discovered a way to lock his bedroom door, or Ron and Hermione would have found out his secret long ago.

He was also glad to get out of this house. He'd been stuck in it all last year, after he had hunted down various members of the Order. With Kreacher.

He hated this house, even if it kept him safe, with a passion.

"Are you ready, Sirius?" Remus asked.

"I guess," Sirius answered. With a small popping of displaced air, Monster appeared in his place.

"It's only two more days, Sirius," Remus said as he picked Monster up. "Hopefully, Dumbledore will have thought of something by now."

Half an hour later, Sirius was finally able to put his feet up, a full tray of food before him. Across from him, Harry was sitting on his bed, legs crossed and _Quidditch Through the Ages_ abandoned on his lap.

"Hungry, Siri?"

He nodded, methodically chewing his chicken before saying, "I don't get enough as Monster from Ginny or Hermione like I need. Though Hermione was saying that I should be eating dog food and not kitchen scraps."

Harry laughed. "That sounds like Hermione, alright."

Sirius finally finished his food and set the tray aside for Tonks to grab when she 'tucked' Harry in for the night.

"What did you do today, Harry?" he asked, stretching his legs out.

Harry grinned. "Hermione had to admit she was wrong about something. It's the first time I can remember!" They both laughed. "She thought all metamorphmagi were female, but Tonks said that wasn't true."

Sirius chuckled. "Anything else?"

Harry gave a rueful frown. "I almost beat Ron in chess this afternoon."

Sirius looked at him. "Shouldn't you be happy about that?"

The younger man shrugged his shoulders. "Normally I would, but I've never gotten anywhere near beating Ron. Ever. At least not until this summer."

Sirius nodded, understanding why Harry _wasn't_ happy about his almost-win at chess. Ever since his birthday, Harry's magic had been growing at exponential rates. Movement on Harry's wrist caught his attention, and he had to smile. The little snake Sirius had rescued from Dudley had played a large part in getting Kreacher to at least cooperate with the Order.

"What are you smiling about?" Harry asked.

Sirius realized he had a goofy grin on his face. "Oh, I was remembering Kreacher's reaction to Derek there." He laughed and Harry joined him.

It had been quite funny. Sirius and Harry had snuck down to the kitchen their second day in the house. Monster had been banned from the table at dinner for barking at Snape - who'd stopped by to speak with Dumbledore and made it perfectly clear he was only staying for the shortest time possible - and Harry wouldn't have eaten without him. Then Hermione arrived, so Harry and Sirius had been unable to get down here until after everyone had gone to bed. Harry had had to rescue their snack because Sirius did something - he really had no clue what he'd done - and it had begun to smoke. Well, James had always said that Sirius would burn water if it wasn't for a potion, and Sirius had always been up to the challenge of proving him right.

They had been eating, Harry feeding his as-of-yet unnamed snake little bits of apple. Sirius had forgotten about the little snake until, after The Kiss, Harry had been getting dressed - which wasn't good for Sirius' hormones - and saw that the snake was coiled around Harry's neck like a necklace. Harry had told him the snake had been there since they left Little Whinging. Sirius had been uncomfortable about that at first, but Harry had assured him that the snake like him.

The two had been talking about names for the snake when Kreacher had popped up into the kitchen, muttering about how much his mistress didn't like having such filth in the house. Harry had then offered a hand to his snake, telling him to climb on, as Harry had told Sirius later.

Sirius, on the other hand, had kept an eye on his mother's house-elf, and saw the thing freeze at the sound of parseltongue.

"What's that the filthy mudblood said?" Kreacher had asked.

Sirius then sneered at the house-elf. "It was parseltongue - nothing my illustrious *Mother* could ever do."

Kreacher had then done something Sirius had seen him never do for anyone: the house-elf had bowed. Since then, Kreacher had done everything Harry had said, but paid attention to no one else. Well, he followed what Sirius would say, but only because Harry had pointed out that Sirius was: one, of the Black bloodline and must be followed if Kreacher considered himself one of the family's house-elves; and two, that Sirius had technically 'died' when he feel behind the veil and was thence that much more powerful for it because of the 'magic' involved. Of course, Harry didn't mention that it wasn't Sirius who had done the magic involved.

"Siri?"

He looked up at Harry. "What is it?"

"Do you think Dumbledore would let up go into Muggle London? I really would like to get some new clothes, as well as get Hermione a birthday present."

Sirius thought about it. "I don't see why that would be a big problem about going shopping, though it might be better if it wasn't London."

Harry had brightened, then scowled, before finally settling on a grim set of his mouth. "I guess we could do something like that. But London..." Harry paused, his face brightening once more. "I could give both of us disguises! And Tonks could come with us to make Dumbledore happy!"

Sirius stared at him for a moment before grinning. Well, that was one thing Harry had inherited from his father other than his looks. They boy could come up with a plan with a quill and a paper clipt or whatever it was Arthur had been showing him at the last meeting.

"That could work," he said, "But we'd have to clear it with Dumbledore first."

******

"Who knew that Dumbledore would actually say yes to this crazy scheme?" Mrs. Weasley was complaining as Harry and Sirius got ready for their shopping trip.

Harry grinned, thinking of all that he and Sirius he'd had to do to convince the headmaster to let them go.

"Whoa!" Ron said as he came down the stairs, Hermione beside him and Ginny two steps behind. "That's wicked!" He paused. "So why did you bring in Hestia's nephew anyway? I could have gone."

"You know why, Ron," Hermione sighed at that.

Harry agreed with her. Ever since they'd gotten approval, Harry had told his friends about his upcoming trip, and Ron had fussed about not getting to go. But there was no way Ron could go and *not* attract attention with his naivety about the Muggle world. Tonks' father was Muggle, and Sirius had ventured out a few times with Harry's mother, so wasn't as awkward about being in the Muggle world as most wizards. They had made up the story of bringing in Hestia Jones' non-existant nephew as a cover for Sirius, since it _was_ the middle of the afternoon, and Ron was bound to come and watch his best friend jaunt off to Muggle London.

Harry looked down at the clothes he'd come up with. His jeans were a light blue and were comfortable faded. They were paired with a red polo shirt that contrasted to the blond hair he'd given himself. Hermione had helped with his hair, even though she protested the insane idea of Harry, Sirius, and Tonks tackling London all by themselves.

Sirius was also blond, but he had insisted on wearing all black. His clothes were quite a bit tighter than Harry's, making his stomach flip-flop at the sight.

Harry and Hermione had to force Tonks to change her clothes. The Auror had wanted to keep her Chudley Cannon orange hair, as well as the Regency-style dress in a hideous puce color. Hermione had directed Remus in making a dress - it hadn't been as bad as transfiguring some of Dudley's clothes - to make a gypsy style skirt. It was enough to please Tonks and keep her from getting them noticed.

Twenty minutes later, the three of them were set down in an alley off Piccadilly Circus, courtesy of a portkey provided on the sly by Amelia Bones of the MLE and newest member of the Order. As they made their way out of the alley, Harry was amazed at all the people. It was twenty times as busy as Diagon Alley, as it had been before Harry's third year when he had stayed at The Leaky Cauldron.

"Where should we go first?" Tonks asked.

Harry shrugged. "Hermione said there was an ice cream shop around here somewhere. Let's go there, since ice cream sounds good, and we can figure out where to go next."

He watched as Sirius' eyes flashed at ice cream and flushed. Harry suddenly remembered Sirius' dream about ice cream very well, since he'd decided, in his sleep, that Harry's neck was a tasty ice cream cone.

When their bellies were full with sugary and creamy goodness, the three trekked to Harrod's. Harry had decided that he would get just a couple of items and transfigure what clothes of Dudley's he'd kept to look similar. Sirius kept on pointed out the shirts with slogan and sayings, but Harry really didn't like that kind of thing like Sirius did.

It started a pattern. Sirius would point something out, either he or Harry tried it on or vetoed the selection, and Tonks would match it up with another than even came close to matching. But, Harry couldn't expect much more from a woman who thought orange hair made her blend in more.

Three hours later, Harry was dragging a whiny Tonks and half-asleep Sirius to the nearest station for the Tube. They were to take the tube to the closest station to Grimmauld Place, where Remus and Moody would meet them.

They managed to fit all three of them onto one bench; Harry stuck between the other two. Their bags had been shrunk as they made their purchases, and had been awkwardly stuffed in various pockets. Once the train began moving, Sirius nodded off, his head finding a resting place on Harry's left shoulder. Tonks quickly quieted herself, her head coming to rest on Harry's other shoulder.

At the next stop, an older couple entered and sat by them, even though it was fairly uncrowded this time in the evening. The woman smiled at them, her brown eyes kind as she made eye contact with Harry.

He returned her smile as she asked, "long day?"

Harry nodded, being careful not to disturb his sleeping companions. "Never knew school shopping could be so tiring. I'm just glad Mum took everything home with her."

The man chuckled as the woman said, "and she let you make your own way home?"

Harry shook his head. "Just the tube. Dora's dad's going to meet us at our station."

"Dora?"

Harry smiled. "My cousin." He tilted his head at Sirius. "My brother." Harry was very glad they'd worked out something if anyone ever asked why three teenagers were floating around London - if anyone even cared to ask.

The woman laughed. "I see. I wish I had had an arrangement when our children were younger." The man next to her stood up. "Oh," the woman said. "Is this our stop already?"

"Yes, dear." He had a put-upon tone in his voice, but he winked at Harry as they left. "Once a mother, always a mother," the man said as he escorted the woman through the sliding door.

Harry smiled to himself at the easy camaraderie between the couple. He began to wonder if he and Sirius would ever be like that in thirty years. If they decided to do more than the occasional touch.

Half an hour later, Harry carried a sleeping Monster into 12 Grimmauld Place. Sirius had barely woken up long enough to transfigure himself into his animagus form. Beside him, Tonks was staggering and walking into Moody every ten steps or so.

"Aren't you tired, Harry?" Remus asked as they began to climb the stairs.

"Just a little," Harry said, trying to fight off a yawn and losing the battle. "Not as much as these two."

Remus shut the door behind him as they entered Harry and 'Monster's' room. He was quietly laughing at the sight of Moody dragging Tonks down the hallway. Harry gently set Monster down on the bed and began to pull out all of their bags. As he resized them, Remus asked, "how many stores did you buy out, Harry?"

Harry chuckled before yawning again. "Only a few. But most of these are Tonks and Siri's. I only have these two." He pointed at two of the smaller bags. "There's also a couple pairs of shoes that I got, but they're in one of these other bags. Can't remember which." He yawned once more.

Remus smiled at him. "I'll let you go to sleep then, Harry. You don't have to get up early in the morning, either, since we're not leaving for Hogwarts until after tea."

Harry paused. "Is it a portkey?" he asked, unable to hide the shakiness of his voice due to his tiredness.

Remus nodded. "I'm afraid so. The train only runs monthly but for the months of September and June, so we missed the August train."

"We can't fly?" Harry asked, knowing he was grasping at straws.

"No, Harry," Remus said in a gently tone of voice. "It's too long of a journey, and there's too much of a risk that we could come under attack."

Harry sighed and sank onto the bed, gently stroking Monster's head before nodding in resignation.

Remus moved to the door. "It will get better, Harry, the more you use portkeys."

He shrugged his shoulders, too tired to argue.

"Good night, Harry."

"Night, Remus."

As soon as the door was shut, Harry lay down, kicking his shoes off and crawling under the covers. He tried to stop the trembling, but he couldn't. He was so exhausted by all that had happened since his birthday.

Harry fell asleep as he pet Monster's side, taking comfort in the silky fur.

******

Sirius woke up, confused. There were strange whimpering sounds, but they weren't coming from him. The smell of sweat reached his nose and he realized he was in his Monster form. He opened his eyes and found he was facing the headboard, lying on a pillow. He shifted enough to look at Harry as the whimpering sound continued, coming from his direction.

Harry's face was contorted with agony, cheeks flushed and his forehead had a sheen of sweat.

Sirius jumped off the bed to transform. As he resumed his normal body, he crawled onto the bed and held onto Harry. "Harry?" he whispered into his ear. "It's time to wake up, Harry."

It took a couple of minutes, but Harry eventually calmed down enough to open his eyes.

"Sirius?"

He had to smile at the relief in Harry's voice. "You alright now, Harry?"

Harry nodded, then buried his face in Sirius' neck. "I'm okay. It was just...."

"Just what?" Sirius asked when it was apparent that Harry wouldn't finish the sentence.

He felt a grin against his neck before Harry answered, "just a regular nightmare."

Sirius laughed at this. He was glad that Harry actually had nightmares just like every other person on the planet. Well, not like Sirius himself, but no one else could have that many nightmares and still be mostly sane due to Azkaban. The sanity was still debatable though, according to Remus.

"So what was this nightmare about?" he asked.

"Snape."

Sirius growled and Harry laughed into his neck. "And just what was Snape doing to my most precious Harry bear?"

"Harry bear?" Harry asked in an incredulous voice.

Sirius shook his head. "Don't interrupt me, Harry bear." He growled again and squeezed him tight. "Because if he ever does something to you that even _looks_ like what happened in your nightmare, let me know." He squeezed again and let a gasping-for-air Harry go. He gave a goofy smile. "So, what did Snape do?"

Harry's face fell. "You know when I looked in Snape's pensieve?"

Sirius' smile quickly fell from his face. "Oh."

"Yeah," Harry shrugged his shoulder. "Only I was Snape, Snape was my dad, and..."

"And?" Sometimes it was like pulling teeth with Harry.

"And you just stood by and did nothing. Nobody came and stopped him." Harry's face screwed up with frustration. "I had a dream like that last night, only it was Fudge and not Snape."

Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry again. "I will never do _anything_ like that to you. I will help you whenever you need it."

Harry nestled into Sirius' shoulder. "I know, Siri. It's just, I keep thinking about that."

He sighed. "I understand, Harry. I know now that I was not a good kid, even though I thought I was. When you called Remus and I on that, I... I kept on thinking of all the things I did in school that were like that." He sighed again. I wish I hadn't done them, that I'd known better, but I can't change the past."

Sirius pulled back and looked Harry in the eyes. "Your mother always said that you can't dwell on the bad things. You only need to learn what was wrong, and then correct the error. Still, she said that when we were planning a prank that was sure to misfire."

Harry half-sobbed, half-laughed. "Thanks, Siri."

"You're welcome, Harry," Sirius said as he tucked them back into bed. "You're very welcome."

******


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. They are what keep me motivated when all I want to do is curl up in front of the TV and vege on the bad days. I'm not very happy with this chapter, seeing as I've rewritten it twice. I feel like I'm missing something. Anyhoo, please enjoy!

Chapter 7

Sirius sighed as they walked down to the Great Hall in the center of Hogwarts. Last night they had portkeyed to the school after dinner. Molly had made a veritable feast, which he had greatly enjoyed, even if he had been stuck as Monster.

It was strange being able to walk around the castle as himself. And in the daytime as well. The last time he'd been in the castle, all he'd wanted to do was to find Wormtail and kill the bastard. Sirius had crept around the castle to avoid meeting up with Snape - although he hadn't known that fact at the time and he would have done something about it - and Filch. But, he'd taken great pleasure in scaring Mrs. Norris. He hadn't known at the time that she was Filch's cat, but it had been very fun for Padfoot.

Sirius looked over at Harry, worried about the younger man. He had nightmare again last night, but this time, Sirius had been in a room of his own. Dumbledore had shown them a suite, and Sirius had wanted to give Harry a little bit of privacy before checking up on him. He had ended up falling asleep on the other bed, only to awaken to loud moans coming from the bed where Harry was sleeping. Harry had almost been hyperventilating in a panic when Sirius reached him. He thought that it must have been the portkey trip that had triggered Harry's nightmares, in order to not feel guilty about not being beside Harry in bed.

Now the young man was positively staggering he was so tired. Sirius had tried to get him back to sleep, but Harry didn't want to close his eyes. So Sirius had stayed with him to keep him company, the two of them curled beside each other on the narrow bed in the room Harry had chosen. There had been the barest hint of light in the eastern sky when Sirius had slipped into a doze, even though he was trying his hardest to stay awake.

The two of them were almost at the Great Hall when Snape approached from the dungeons. The potions master sneered once he caught sight of them. Sirius glared at him, but was determined to ignore him otherwise. Instead, Sirius turned away from him and guided Harry into the Great Hall and to a seat at the round table near the head of the room. The large table was dwarfed in comparison by the vast emptiness of the room, cleared as it was of the House and teachers' tables. The room was devoid of people except for Remus, whom Sirius knew had always been an early riser, much to the dismay of his friends while they were still in school.

Remus waved a greeting at them, but waited until Sirius was settled until he spoke.

"Are you all right, Harry?"

Harry turned slightly towards Remus, but Sirius could tell the question didn't actually register.

"Harry?" Remus asked.

Snape glared. "How very familiar this little scene is. Potter ignoring Black and Lupin to daydream. Although it's a little incomplete without the other two tagalongs."

Sirius half-stood and was grabbing his wand when Dumbledore entered the Great Hall.

"Severus," the headmaster intoned. He looked at Snape and then Sirius with a stern gaze. He then looked at Harry and his face softened, before he gave a welcoming smile to Remus. "We will begin talking this afternoon, gentlemen. Now, let us enjoy this beautiful spread." His eyes twinkled briefly, and Sirius had to hide a smirk.

They were halfway though their meal when McGonagall entered the room. "Albus. Severus." She paused as she caught sight of Sirius, who threw a grin in her direction. "Lupin. Mr. Black. I see you have arrived safely." She had obviously been told of his arrival back to the land of the living. Sirius couldn't remember if his former Transfiguration professor had been there at the Order meeting when every one had been told about his reappearance.

"Ah, Minerva!" Dumbledore began. "Did you have any problems in Dublin yesterday, talking to Lord Morrigan?"

McGonagall looked pointedly in Harry's direction - which Sirius frowned at - before saying, "it went well, Albus. I trust I can tell you the details in your office later this morning?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course, Minerva. Please, sit down and join our repast."

Sirius looked over at Remus and they shared a smile. It was always quite fun to watch Dumbledore and McGonagall interact with each other. It was like watching that tennis match Lily had dragged them all to just after she and James had been married.

Once he managed to get some food into Harry, Sirius dragged him and Remus to the library to find that hex he wanted to include in his 'letter' to Bellatrix. Madam Pince, who had thrown the Marauders out of the library an average of once a week for seven years worth of schooling, was still on vacation in the north of Australia. Which meant they had free range of the library at the moment.

Sirius guided Harry to a table, transfigured a chair into a sofa, and made a loudly protesting Harry lay down and take a nap. The younger man had fussed so much, Sirius had directed a Sominus charm on him, silently apologizing to Harry for the treatment. Still, he needed the rest so much, Sirius would give it to him any way he could.

Once Harry was settled, Sirius took off into the Restricted Section.

Sirius had laughed at Hermione last Christmas when she had said the books in the Restricted Section were all Dark. Most of them were about the Dark Arts, but they weren't necessarily Dark, per say. When Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter were researching how to become animagi, they had found a plethora of books they could use for pranks and other nonesuch.

Sirius searched the different rows, laughing when he saw Remus had already made himself comfortable back at the table, a large pile of books stacked next to him. That was his Remus, the power geek.

Just as Sirius was about to give up and haul Remus back in to search, he found the book he'd been looking for. As he pulled it down, the book next to it caught his eye. The gold-leaf lettering was peeling off of the crackled, black leather binding of the book. He could just barely make out the words 'Gryffindor' and 'Torch.' Intrigued, Sirius pulled it down as well, to read a little bit later.

He spent the rest of the morning working on his 'gift' for Bitchatrix, as he was now calling his cousin in his head. He just needed to transfigure and charm an owl to deliver it. He most certainly wasn't going to send a real owl to the bitch. The poor thing would be dead in a matter of no time at all, and Sirius wasn't about to do such a thing. He and Remus squabbled a bit about whether or not Sirius should add a hair color-changing hex to the outside, so that the hex would hit anyone who touched the letter. Remus won by pointing out that it might not get to Bellatrix if that was the case.

Harry finally woke up, about half an hour before lunch, and joined Sirius and Remus in their reading until it was time to head to the Great Hall. Sirius saw that he had picked up the other book he'd gotten off the shelf, but didn't think about it as Remus pointed out a spell in one of the other books that would make a marvelous way to freeze an opponent - literally freezing them in an instant.

"Shall we go to lunch, then?" Sirius asked as he put the finishing touches on the letter. He and Remus stood, but Harry was still reading.

"Harry?"

"Hm?" His green eyes looked dazed as they peeked over the top of the book.

"Good book?" Sirius smirked.

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Could I? Would Madam Pince mind it terribly?"

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her," Sirius answered.

Remus shook his head. "Sirius." He looked at Harry. "We well bring it back for you, Harry, as I don't think Madam Pince would appreciate you having a book from the Restricted Section."

"No. I doubt she would," Harry said as he looked at the page number for memorization. "You know, this book really shouldn't even be in the Restricted Section. At least, what I've read so far is pretty much about how he and the other founders created Hogwarts. Hermione would love to read this book. I mean, what with her quoting Hogwarts - A History at Ron and me all the time."

The other two men laughed, and Sirius turned towards the door, eager for some food for his rumbling tummy, earning another laugh from Remus and a chuckle from Harry.

"Sirius?" Remus called to him as he reached the main doors of the library.

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned back around.

"Are you not going to help me put these books away?" Remus asked, his arms full of books, the top one sliding haphazardly back and forth between Remus' upper arms.

Sirius grinned. "We can do it later, Moony." He whipped out his wand and spelled the books back onto the table, though he was a little forceful with the spell - who knew what else Azkaban had done to his memory - and some of the books ended up landing on their pages, half-way open on the chairs and floor. "Oops!" He rushed out the door. "I'll fix it later! I'm starving."

"Sirius!" Remus' protest about cleaning up after himself grew faint as Sirius hotfooted it to the Great Hall. Once he was there, he knew he would get in trouble, but it would be worth it.

~~~

Sirius was not a happy camper by any long shot. When Dumbledore had said they would get down to business after they finished eating at lunch, he had meant it. Now he was literally stuck to the sofa, sitting next to Snape, courtesy of a sticking charm on his rear. It irritated Sirius even more so than usual because Remus had calmly pointed out, once the 'fight' was over, that Dumbledore was correct in treating the two of them like the children they were acting like.

As soon as they arrived at the headmaster's office, Snape had been acting like the snot he was. It wasn't Sirius' fault he had to respond to some of the greasy git's snarking insults. But no, Dumbledore didn't see it that way.

"I have had enough of the fights, gentlemen," Dumbledore said with a fierce frown on his face. "This meeting will finish what was started long ago. I know you have grievance with each other, but you will learn to let them go!" The headmaster looked each of them in the eye. Sirius shuddered at the power in those eyes when they laid on him. Dumbledore had the power to make Sirius think he was six again and he had just broken Aunt Agatha's favorite vase, which had contained no less than twenty Cornish pixies, which had then destroyed Sirius' Mother's favorite room - the study. Thinking now on it, he wondered if some of those pixies they had cleaned out last summer weren't the descendents of the first ones.

He was back to being properly cowed by Dumbledore when the headmaster brought Sirius' attention back to the problem at hand.

Once they were all suitable chastised for the moment, the headmaster brightened. "Now, Miss Granger and I were talking about Muggle Psychiatry the other day. Reading a little more on it, I've discovered several different exercises we will do to get you four to work together. Without fighting."

All four of them groaned for different reasons, but couldn't do much more in the light of Dumbledore's determination. "Now, the first exercise is called...."

******

Sirius could feel himself beginning to wake up, even though he really didn't want to. He'd had some nice dreams involving Harry, but they hadn't been naughty or anything like that. But they had been wonderful to have nonetheless, because it had always just been the two of them with nothing to bother them.

A hand fell on his shoulders, but it wasn't quite enough to motivate Sirius enough to fully wake up. It must be Harry, though, because he was the only one who knew the password to the suite, since it had been a house elf whom had shown them their room when they had arrived. Sirius reached up and pulled on Harry's arm, wrapping his own around the warm, male body sharing his bed.

"Mornin', Harry."

"Sirius Black!"

_Shite,_ Sirius thought, _that's Moony!_ He let go of 'Harry's' arm and sat up, his eyes opening wide at the very irate look on his friend's face.

"Are you so perverted you would grope Harry?" Remus shouted, practically foaming at the mouth. His amber eyes had a feral look to them, scaring Sirius more than anything else "Moony" had ever done. "You would have scared Harry to death, pawing him like you just did to me. He's not one of those stupid girls and boys you slept with while in school, determined to fill up the notches on your bed!"

"But I - " Sirius wanted to deny that accusation, but Remus cut him off.

"And what would James and Lily have thought of their son's _godfather_ doing such a thing?"

"I don't think - "

"You obviously didn't think of that, now, did you?" Remus began to stalk around the bed, his eyes never leaving Sirius. "They appointed you to look after Harry in their stead, but no. You have turned it into a sick thing."

Sirius flinched at that remark and felt something wither inside of him.

"Moony, I - "

Remus growled at him.

"Remus," a voice called from the doorway. They both looked up, startled at the intrusion, to find Harry entering the room.

Remus made a motion to Sirius. "Harry. Sirius was - " he stopped cold at the expression on Harry's face. Behind the long bangs, green eyes were peeking out, seemingly lit with a strangle backlight.

Harry shut the door and walked over to Remus. He took the man's hand and led Remus over to sit on the bed. Harry sat between Sirius and Remus, leaning slightly against Sirius.

"Remus, I know you mean well," Harry began "But Sirius and I have never had a father-son relationship. I may have wanted it at first, but it never developed into that. Up until Sirius fell into the veil, both of you were more like older brothers to be, but never a paternal influence."

Sirius knew all of this, but hearing it didn't make it any easier not to feel the hurt. When he had gotten out of Azkaban, all he had thought about, besides killing Wormtail - and it didn't matter how he did _that_ - was giving a home and a father to Harry. There had been that brief period of time when he'd offered that to Harry, but then Wormtail had escaped, taking Sirius' freedom with him. They had talked about this while at Privet Drive, but it still hurt.

Still, he saw the surprise on Remus' face at the admission. His friend had always been astonished whenever Sirius, James, Peter, and even Lily had expressed affection for him. It was different for Sirius, who had seen the affection between his mother and Regulus, but all Remus had know was indifference. He flashed a quick smile at Harry when the younger man looked his way.

Harry ducked his head and shrugged. "But when he fell behind the veil and I got him out, my feelings changed." He raised his head to look at Sirius again. Sirius nodded and him, understanding what he was saying. His feelings had undergone such a radical change in only a few short days.

"I didn't know they could change until they already had," Harry continued in the silence of the room. "It was never a son's love for his father, and... I'm probably not saying this right, but I'm not sure how to put it." Harry took a deep breath. "I know how I feel about Sirius now, and I won't change it for anybody. Our feelings are between the two of us and no one else."

Remus made a noise, as if to interrupt, but Harry hushed him.

"I've already told Sirius that nobody is going to take him away from me again. And this time, I have the power to keep it from happening again."

"What if he wants to leave?" Remus suddenly asked. His eyes flashed between Harry and Sirius, studying them both.

Sirius felt Harry stiffen as a look of hopelessness crept over his face. "If that happens," Harry said in a tiny voice, "I will let him go."

Sirius grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed. "I won't leave you, Harry. Ever."

All three of them were quiet, digesting all the information just dealt out. Sirius squeezed Harry's hand every once in a while, taking the time to relish in the contact, and not having to hide it anymore from Remus.

Eventually Remus broke the silence. "How, or rather what have you done?"

"Done?" Harry asked.

"In your relationship?"

Sirius had a horrible flashback to when Lily's father had talked to James about his intentions about Lily in the middle of Kings Cross Station.

Harry flushed red. "Nothing more than..."

"We kissed, Remus," Sirius ground out. "Now keep your nose out of it!"

Remus laughed.

Sirius could just imagine what the bloody man was thinking. The werewolf was the bloody pervert in the room. Which reminded him of what Remus had said earlier.

"Am I really a pervert?" he couldn't help the broken voice in which the question was asked.

Remus looked as stricken as Sirius felt. "Siri, I... I'm so sorry about all the things I said."

"What's this?" Harry asked, his tone worried and almost angry at the same time.

Sirius shook his head, unwilling to talk about it at the moment, even if he had broached the subject. "It's nothing, Harry. Remus was - "

" - Being a bastard," Remus finished quickly. The amber-eyed man ducked his head this time. "I... Sirius and I will need to work this out between the two of us."

"Oh," Harry responded, not sounding very happy about it, but he obviously understood that it was a matter between the two longtime friends. "Then we're okay for now?"

"Yes," Sirius and Remus answered at the same time.

"We'll make it through," Sirius added, wrapping his arm around Harry's shoulders. "It'll work out in the end, Harry."

******

Sirius brooded quietly in his chair, thinking about that messy scene in his bedroom with Harry and Remus. All of yesterday, the werewolf had been jumpy about any mention of Sirius and Harry in the same sentence, and while it had been amusing at first, it had worn on Sirius' nerves.

In all actuality, their little fight had been the best part of yesterday. From there, it had only gotten worse when they had to do more 'exercises' with Snape. Sirius just thanked Merlin that he wasn't a Muggle and had to do all that shite all the time. By the time _that_ was over, Sirius had just wanted to fall into bed he was so exhausted.

Harry had dragged him to the Great Hall for the evening meal in spite of his protests, making sure he ate well. Then the green-eyed man had taken Sirius back to their suite to chat - no heavy stuff allowed. And they had talked for a good hour before Sirius had totally calmed down.

He took it back. That had been the best part of the day, when he and Harry had sat on the sofa in front of the fire, sitting close enough to each other without being in the other's lap, their hands entangled in their laps. After they talked, he didn't remember much more than laying down on the large sofa.

Finally opening his eyes, he found himself in his own bed, Harry sleeping soundly beside him. The faint light shining through the window told him that it was a little after dawn. Still early then.

Sirius lay there for a long time, content in just watching Harry sleep, his chest moving rhythmically with each breath. The younger man must not have had a nightmare last night, which was always a good sign. That meant that at least a couple of Dumbledore's exercises were working, even if Sirius wanted to shove them up the old man's arse when it came to working with Snape. Ew, bad mental image.

He cleared his mind of that and contented himself with watching Harry. As it neared the time to get up, Sirius reached over and touched Harry's cheek, feeling the beginnings of stubble.

"Harry?" he said in a low voice. "It's time to get up, Harry."

Green eyes sleepily opened halfway. "Hm?"

Sirius smiled at the cute face in front of him. Harry reminded him of a large, sleepy cat in a patch of sunlight. Not that Padfoot was all that fond of cats. Maybe he would be of a Harry-cat. "Time to wake up."

"Oh?" Harry returned the smile then yawned. "Already?"

He nodded. "Yep. Time to face the loveliness of Snape's face."

Harry frowned and looked a little green in the gills. "Ugh. That's an awful thought to wake up to, Siri. Why couldn't you have said something about what Dumbledore is finally going to do about you staying here?"

Sirius shook his head. "No. Then you probably could have fallen back asleep. Now you're wide awake, which is what I wanted."

Harry scrunched up his nose. "That is not funny, Siri."

He pouted. "Then you don't love me anymore, then?"

"No, it's not that!" Harry almost shouted.

Sirius was taken aback by the vehemence of that statement, and it must have shown on his face.

"I do love you, Siri," Harry whispered. "I do. It's just..."

"What are we going to do?" Sirius for him, understanding what Harry was talking about. There was so much up in the air right now that it was hard for them to do any thinking beyond just talking about things they wanted to happened and being unable to actually do them. "I love you, too, Harry." He reached over and tugged the younger man into his arms, tucking Harry nicely against him. "I always will. And no matter what Dumbledore has me do, we will work at this."

"Good," Harry said, brush a kiss across Sirius' jaw.

Sirius planted a return kiss gently on Harry's brow. "My thoughts exactly."


	8. Chapter 8

AN: Thanks to everyone that's reviewed. And if you haven't reviewed, why not? I'd like to hear what you think of this story! And for those who had questions...

SStar Luna: It's been a while since I've read PoA, but I think I'll keep it anyway, because I'm feeling lazy. :D And about the suite: they were originally across the hall, but I was thinking the walls at Hogwarts are substantially thick, so I switched it. I must have missed that when I changed it after getting it back from beta.

Athena kitty: Sirius' name isn't cleared just yet. They have to find Wormtail first.

Slytherinkid07: there's no going back in time in this story. However, Sirius and Remus do have a little something planned for the Dursleys when it's a little more peaceful – and when they think it's safe to breath a sigh of relief at getting rid of Harry.

Chapter 8

Harry was tired of Snape's snide remarks about his childhood. If Snape weren't such a stubborn bastard, he would have seen the treatment of Harry at his relatives' hands. It was as if the potions master had blinders on when it came to everything Harry had revealed about his home life in either the Occlumency lessons last year - when it had been involuntary - or in Dumbledore's required sessions the past few days - when it had been not quite so involuntary. Either way, it had been dragged out of him, one way or the other.

They were sitting in the headmaster's office working on the last exercise. Dumbledore must have gotten them from Hermione, and that's why they were on the last one. Otherwise, if Dumbledore had been the source, this would continue until the day that school started. Harry and Sirius were sitting on the couch, while Remus was seated in a nearby, high-backed chair. Snape, of course, had to be different and was restlessly pacing in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Obviously Potter doesn't know how to behave as something other than a spoiled brat," Snape spat at the headmaster. "I doubt he learned what humiliation feels like." Snape glared at Harry.

Next to him, Sirius growled as Dumbledore admonished his potions professor.

Snape spluttered and ranted on for a few more minutes before Harry had had enough of it. Enough of all the glaring and shouting and knowing that one of his professors had hated the very idea of his school-time enemy's son.

"Stop it!" he shouted, standing up.

The room froze.

"Don't tell me what to do, boy!" Snape shouted back.

Harry could feel his anger reach a boiling point. He wasn't going to take any more of Snape's shite. No way.

"I will do whatever I will to get through to you! You think I don't know what humiliation is? Do you?"

Snape sneered. "Of course you couldn't. Not with how I'm sure your family treats you!"

His anger broke past every barrier he had erected since he'd learned, at a _very_ young age, that anger was dangerous around Uncle Vernon. Severus Snape was too close to comfort at times like this, reminding Harry of numerous times that he'd been yelled at by his uncle. He narrowed his eyes at Snape.

"I'll show you, then," he whispered in a cold voice. His anger took hold, freezing him. Harry then reached for the memory he wanted to show Snape, just how he knew what humiliation was all about. Harry gathered his magic and pulled everyone in the room into a Muggle classroom.

"Harry?" Sirius asked from where he was standing beside Harry. "Where are we?"

Harry looked around, searching in the darkest, farthest corner from the door. He pointed to a small boy at the desk that lay in it after spotting the tousled hair. "We are at my primary school and that is me at seven."

"You're pathetic even when you were little, Potter," Snape sneered again, stepping over to where seven-year-old Harry sat.

Harry felt the anger seethe forward once more, but he didn't let it wash over him. Not yet. Only once he was done showing Snape the real truth could he let go of the anger and magic that was still building behind the shell of Harry's body. Then he saw Dudley and Piers Polkiss enter the room, the two, bigger boys were snickering to themselves as they made their way to Harry at seven.

Piers bent over him, standing next to a not-really-there Snape. "Potter. Dudley and I think it's time to show Barstow how to beat you up properly if we're sick."

Dudley laughed his pig-like snort, trying to sound snide. "And forget telling Miss Hammersmith what we're going to do. Dad and Mum told her you're a big, fat liar." He reached down and yanked the younger Harry's head back by the hair. "Meet us outside after you eat." Dudley laughed again, with a fake, surprised look on his fat face. "That's right! Mum doesn't give you dinner. Sorry!" He pulled Harry out of the chair by yanking on his hair. When he let go, a few, black strands fell from Dudley's pudgy fingers.

In the blink of an eye, Harry switched the scene to the small grounds outside of the gray, two-storied brick school. There was a dark, tree shaded corner, and that is the direction Harry pointed to the others.

Harry passively watched as his younger self was used as a teaching tool in Bullying 101, knowing that he couldn't do anything about it.

"This is the best you could do, Potter?" Snape asked as the bell rang, and the three boys using seven-year-old Harry as a punching bag ran inside the school.

"Wait," Harry told him in a cold voice. He looked at the other three men with them and saw horrified looks on their faces. Dumbledore's eyes were actually tear filled. But it was Sirius and Remus' faces that caught his attention. The two, true, remaining Marauders had guilt-ridden faces.

A middle-aged woman approached Harry at seven and prodded him with her shoe. "Up, Potter!" she barked. "What have I told you about climbing this tree?"

The small, green-eyed boy groaned. "Yes, Miss Hammersmith."

"She's your teacher?" Remus gasped out.

Harry at sixteen nodded. "Yes."

"Harry," Sirius began. "Please don't tell me this happened very often?" There was a pleading look in his eyes.

Harry shrugged. "Most of the time, except when I had Mrs. Corcoran the school year after this incident. Otherwise, it was about like this."

"This is the worst?" Snape snarked again.

Harry shook his head. "The worst is what happened after school. Other than that, it was a pretty typical day for me."

The scenery flashed again to reveal Harry at seven limping home, two bags draped over his thin shoulders, with a third being dragged behind him. All three were loaded heavily with books. In front of him, Dudley and Piers were eating candies and taking drinks out of a can of soda. Every once in a while, Dudley would look back at his cousin and flaunt whatever they were eating at that moment.

"Hey, Potter," Dudley's friend Piers was suddenly blocking seven-year-old Harry's way. "I told you not to get my bag dirty!" The dirty blond boy hit Harry on the shoulder, knocking the much smaller boy over onto the bag that had trailed behind him.

All four of the men with Harry at sixteen winced at the loud crack of Harry at seven's back, and then once more as his head made contact with the pavement.

Dudley came over and kicked Harry in the side. A groan came from the dazed boy. The older - and much, much bigger - cousin grabbed the bags on Harry's shoulders, tearing the sleeves from the oversized shirt. "We gave you this job and you screwed up!" Dudley ranted, obviously imitating an adult, and Harry knew that it was Uncle Vernon. His cousin spit on Harry at seven's face. "And now you're gonna get it from Mum about my shirt you just ripped!"

Dudley and Piers sniggered and left Harry at seven where he lay.

The older four men were silent as they watched various neighbors ignore Harry, going so far as to cross the street in order to avoid the injured child. A few older children tossed stones at the boy, taunting him about his 'troublemaking.'

The stars had just started making an appearance in the near-summer sky as a chilly, spring wind began blowing. The seven-year-old version of Harry seemed to finally be coming around as a small, black cat crept forward to sniff him.

"Hi, Mr. Whiskers," Harry at seven croaked. "Aunt Petunia's probably mad at me, huh?"

The cat just meowed and nuzzled Harry's cheek as the small boy struggled to get up off of the bag. It took a couple of minutes, in which Sirius futilely tried to help. Once Harry at seven was up, he stretched and there was a series of pops and cracks erupting from his back.

Seven-year-old Harry's observers followed him up the set of stairs that suddenly appeared before them.

"Did you just apparate, Potter?" Snape asked. His voice was somewhat cowed by the events he had just witnessed.

"Yes," Dumbledore answered, finally speaking. "Harry apparated two separate times. I believe the next time will be in a month, at the end of the school year, when he apparates to the school roof."

Harry nodded as they followed the younger version of himself inside. "Dudley found a knife that day."

"What!" Sirius roared as Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon met Harry in the hallway in front of the cupboard under the stairs.

"Where have you been, boy?" Vernon bellowed.

"And you ruined poor Dudders' shirt!" Petunia cried. She came right up to Harry and slapped him. "Shame on you, you freak! You should be grateful that we took you in, seeing as your lowlife parents got themselves killed."

Vernon snorted. "It's no use, Petty." The large, beefy man picked Harry up by the collar, opened the cupboard door, and shoved the small boy in. Harry at seven's head banged against the doorframe. The little boy didn't even wince. Vernon shut the door, catching Harry's hand when he didn't pull it in fast enough.

"That's what you get, you freak! You should have died with your parents!"

"Vernon!" Petunia said. She wasn't even scolding her husband for his last comment. "What about his teacher calling?"

"Potter," Vernon bellowed. "Miss Hammersmith called and said you were in that tree again, after she told you a hundred times before not to climb it. For that, you're not to get any meals for two weeks."

He shut the small grill on the door and the silent observers were suddenly back in Dumbledore's office.

Harry stared at the corner, unable to look at the others in the room. He was startled as a slight weight landed on his shoulder. He could tell it was Fawkes who had just landed on his shoulder by the feel of talons lightly gripping his shirt. The phoenix trilled softly in Harry's ear, and he could feel his body begin to relax and the load partially ease from his figurative shoulders.

Dumbledore spoke, "Harry, I...."

Harry turned to look at him, feeling the anger rise once more, even with Fawkes singing in his ear. "You what? You're sorry for what happened? For just what I showed you, or for the thousand other times when I got blamed for things I didn't do, imagining a hundred slights, and not get food for a few dozen weeks!"

The anger was dangerously high. "Was it enough to just leave me there and forget about me, just like the rest of the world I had just saved! The same one where I have to kill Voldemort!"

Harry clenched his fists as Fawkes took off of his shoulder. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like the entire room was shaking.

"Harry!" Sirius was suddenly there in front of him. "It's all right, Harry!"

Harry took a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing this awful feeling away. It was as if his magic and anger had combined, making his skin crawl and itch with the need to do something.

Sirius took Harry into his arms, where he collapsed. His magic was beginning to suppress him, smother him, and the feel of Sirius' arms around him, showing that someone cared enough to help lessened the agony. Harry buried his face in Sirius' neck as the magic washed over him.

"Harry, I..." Dumbledore began. "I know when I left you with your aunt you would have problems. But I had hoped the protection given to you by your mother's blood would far outweigh them."

"It didn't," Harry said thickly, his face still hidden.

Dumbledore sighed. "I know that now. Unfortunately, I had thought your independence was a trait of your father's, but now I see that it is because you have learned not to trust anyone with authority."

Sirius softly petted Harry's hair, helping to release the magic and anger mixture. The sadness in Dumbledore's voice went a long way to help, as well.

Snape snorted in that irritating way he always did, but Harry made himself ignore it. If he let that get to him, the magic would build up again, and he didn't want that at all. Instead, he let his body totally relax against Sirius, knowing that he would take care of Harry. As he did, the last of the crawling went away.

"You learned that you couldn't depend on anyone, could you, Harry?" Remus asked.

"No," Harry answered, pulling back just enough to smile at Sirius. "Thanks, Siri."

Sirius grinned a little sadly at him. "No problem, Harry."

Snape snorted again and Sirius turned and scowled at him.

"If I may leave this Gryffindor love fest, Headmaster?" the potions master asked, standing up.

Dumbledore nodded and the tall man swept from the room, his black robes billowing dramatically.

"I do believe Severus should give lessons on how to leave a room," the headmaster said once the door was shut and the sound of the stairs turning faded into silence.

Harry broke out into giggles, trying to stifle the childish noise. He couldn't help it, though, as the image of Snape giving etiquette lessons flashed through his head. There was a sneaking suspicion that Dumbledore had said that to break up the tension still left in the room.

"Harry?"

He looked up at the headmaster.

"Let's talk tonight after dinner?"

Harry nodded, even if the headmaster had sounded as if talking like someone Harry's own age. He knew that they had to talk, just the two of them, about quite a lot of things. Still, he was reminded of the last time it had just been Dumbledore and himself. Harry had destroyed quite a bit of the headmaster's office. It looked much better, now that he thought about it. He just hoped that things didn't get out of control like then, especially since Sirius wasn't going to be with him.

"Yeah, that's fine with me." He smiled at Sirius. "If he can keep out of trouble," Harry said, pointing at the other man.

"I'll keep him out of trouble," Remus said in a mock-innocent voice.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Harry retorted. He felt the heaviness totally life at the laughter bouncing around the room.

* * *

It felt odd to Harry, sitting in the Great Hall before any of the other students arrived. The House tables seemed quite lonely sitting empty. Harry looked up at the Head table. Dumbledore was bantering with McGonagall, making him shudder. There were just some things students should NOT know about their teachers. Snape was scowling in Harry's direction, but that wasn't anything new.

Professor Sprout was intently reading some magazine, even as Professors Flitwick and Vector talked around her, seated as they were on either side of the Head of Hufflepuff. Professor Sinistra was looking Harry's way as well, but her expression was much different than Snape's. The Astronomy instructor had taken Harry aside before they had taken their respective seats. Sinistra had asked if he would like to talk to her sometime. Harry had been stunned and just stared at her at the statement, especially when Sinistra said that she had known Lily in school. He had then been angry that she was offering now, and it must have shown on his face, for she then said that, now that he wasn't a student in her classes, she could freely talk to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

The question startled Harry out of his wondering about his mother's friends. He flashed a smile at his companion. Bright blue eyes lit up with his return smile.

"My Mum," he answered. "I guess Professor Sinistra knew her."

The boy next to him looked up at the Head table. "Oh, yes. Most likely. Celia Sinistra was a year behind us, so she probably knew Lily. There were only two girls in our class in Gryffindor, and Lisa Christopher was a snob to the rest of us."

"Siri..." Harry warned.

Siri laughed. "Oops!" He leaned forward and pointed to his hair with a big grin on his face. "Are my roots showing?"

Harry sighed in exasperation and lightly slapped his arm. "You are going to be in big trouble if anyone find out who you really are."

"I know," Sirius mockingly pouted. "If they find out I'm really Sirius Black and not just sharing his name, I'll be fed to the Dementors." He said all that in the singsong voice of one who was reading out a really boring piece of text while trying to be funny. It wasn't working.

Harry glowered. "No, I will make you talk to your mother after I give her voice back."

Siri shivered. "That's gross, Harry! Where'd you learn that?"

He shrugged. "No one. I just figured that'd keep you on track."

The new brunette now known as Siri Greystone, formerly Sirius Black, chuckled. "You know you're going to have to warn me about once a week."

Harry smiled. "I know."

McGonagall rose to gather up the first years at that moment, and Harry knew it couldn't be long until the rest of the students entered the Great Hall. When Ron and Hermione came over to sit by him, Harry would tell the story he, Sirius, and Dumbledore worked out - that Siri had come with his Muggle-born parents from Australia, where he had been schooled over the radio through the WWN, like all other students who lived in the far interior of the country.

It wasn't that Harry liked having to lie to his friends, but he would do quite a bit to protect Sirius. If he could do that by not telling any other Gryffindors who Sirius really was, then so be it.

Siri nudged him and Harry smiled back at him, glad that they could still be together. They hadn't been able to talk last night, but Harry hoped they could do so tonight after the others in the dorm fell asleep. Ron and Neville tended to essentially pass out after the feast, more or less. Dean and Seamus would actually undress and brush their teeth before going to bed. Harry had always been the last one to fall asleep and first to wake up, having trained himself long ago to protect him from the Dursleys.

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron were the first students to burst through the doors of the Great Hall. Harry stood up and found himself in a stranglehold courtesy of Hermione.

"Ack!" Harry tried to say something, but all he got was a mouthful of Hermione's bushy hair.

"'Mione! Let him breath, already," Ron came to Harry's rescue, like any good best friend would.

Hermione finally released him and suddenly was she when she noticed Siri standing next to Harry. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She stuck her hand out at Siri. "I'm Hermione Granger, sixth-year Gryffindor prefect."

Siri shook her hand. "I sort of guessed that. Siri Greystone at your service."

"Ron Weasley. Where're you from, mate?" Ron asked as he shook Siri's hand.

Siri smiled and Harry hid a smirk. They'd had to put a spell on Sirius, because he couldn't keep up with the Australian accent needed for the ruse. Harry and Remus had gotten quite the kick out of it, much to Sirius' disgust.

"Smack dab middle of the Outback, mate!" Siri answered.

Ron grinned. "Wicked!" He leaned in closer. "You a decent Quidditch player?"

Harry laughed as Hermione smacked Ron in the arm.

"We should get our seats," Harry said, and point out the curious students looking their way from their seats. The other three nodded and they made their way to seats next to Ginny and Neville. Those two were busy talking about something Harry couldn't catch, so they really didn't notice their new company.

The Great Hall eventually grew silent as Hagrid took his seat, knowing that McGonagall and the first years were about to arrive. Dumbledore stood and smiled at the students.

"Welcome back, students, to another year at Hogwarts. I wanted to take this time to introduce a transfer student into out midst." He looked over at Siri, and Harry could tell his eyes were twinkling madly. "Siri Greystone has joined us from the Sandstone Academy out of Melbourne. Students there use the WWN for classes, so he hasn't been in a formal classroom for quite a while. Yes, it is highly unusual for Hogwarts to have a transfer, though our last students to transfer in was in the 1950s."

Siri flushed slightly, but continued to stand until Dumbledore was finished, waving at the House tables, smiling when he got to Malfoy's group sitting in the middle of the Slytherin table. Most of the students politely clapped, but Malfoy and his bunch of followers scowled and glared in his direction. Siri sat back down as the doors opened to reveal McGongall and the first years.

"They look so small," Siri whispered in Harry's ear.

He nodded. Had he ever been that small? Thinking about being stuffed in his cupboard until he was eleven, maybe he had been that small.

He attention was brought to the front of the Great Hall as Flitwick set the Sorting Hat on the stool. As he did so, Harry felt a twinge run across his scar. He took a deep breath and quickly began clearing his mind. He had almost cleared it when he noticed a dark tint at the far reaches. Harry moved to it, to look at it a little closer.

When he reached the point where light blended to gray, Harry realized what it was. He backpedaled as fast as he could, pushing what magic he had in his reach. There was no way he would let Voldemort into his head. He threw the magic as hard and fast as he could until he could tell the only person inside his head was himself.

The magic snapped back at Harry, and he let the blackness of unconsciousness overtake him.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Most of the questions that were asked about Harry's magic (and Sirius') will be answered in the chapter after this.

Fire of the Angel: How is Harry being too vulnerable? And what about the characterizations? In order to address these questions, I'll need them to more in depth than just 'I think this isn't correct. Please fix them.'

* * *

Chapter 9

Siri held down his panic as he felt Harry slump against him. Across from him, Ron and Hermione's eyes widened. Hermione recovered first and leaned towards Ron, blocking the view from the Slytherin table. Siri looked up at Remus and waited to catch his eye, every second seeming to take an hour. Remus finally looked his way, Dumbledore standing once more. Siri nodded his head towards Harry.

Remus' eyes widened, and he leaned over to speak to McGonagall, across Snape. Siri barely acknowledged Snape's scowl as he watched for McGonagall's reaction. The Transfiguration professor looked their way, a startled and worried look on her face, and hurriedly spoke with Dumbledore.

The headmaster sent a quick note down the table to where Sinistra was sitting at the end. The Astronomy professor's eyes widened, and she looked up at Siri. She held up a white noted that was balled up. A quick throw and it landed in Siri's lap. He unfolded it quickly to reveal a knut. Grabbing Harry's shoulders, Siri took hold of the knut and felt the tug at his navel that signaled use of a portkey.

They landed on the floor just inside the door to the infirmary. Siri carefully stood up. "Mobilicorpus," he said, pointing his wand at Harry. Even in his near-panicked state, he could remember the last time he used the spell - Snape in the Shrieking Shack. He was much more careful this time as he guided Harry onto the nearest bed.

Madam Pomfrey came through just as Siri had gotten Harry comfortable.

"What's the problem with Mr. Potter this time?" the nurse asked as she came forward.

Siri shrugged. "I have no idea," he said. "He got really stiff during the Sorting Hat's song and then he just slumped against me as Professor McGonagall finished reading the names of the first years."

Pomfrey nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Greystone. Professor Dumbledore will be up here soon to talk with you and Mr. Potter."

He nodded and stood off to one side, wondering what had happened to make Harry pass out like that.

Dumbledore joined him forty-five minutes later, Dobby tottering behind him with a tray loaded with food. His eyes twinkled as he said, "I thought you would appreciate a bite to eat, Mr. Greystone."

Siri gave a wry smile. Trust Dumbledore to remember he hadn't eaten.

Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and bustled over to Harry's bed.

"How is our patient?" Dumbledore asked the school's nurse.

Pomfrey huffed. "Mr. Potter has somehow managed to become magically drained between the time I talked to him this afternoon and the feast."

"What?!" Siri exclaimed, as the headmaster nodded.

"Is there a cause?"

The nurse shook her head. "Nothing showed up on my scan."

Siri leaned over to take hold of Harry's hand.

Dumbledore sighed. "I suspect it may have been a case of a Legillimancy attack, then." He caught Siri's eyes. "He obviously beat it off, but Harry must have used a little too much energy in repelling Voldemort's attack."

Pomfrey flinched, and Siri reflexively clenched Harry's hand tighter.

"Not so tight, Siri," a voice came from the bed.

"You feeling okay?" Siri leaned over and asked.

Harry smiled up at him. "Good. Bit of a headache, though."

Pomfrey humphed. "I see how it is, Mr. Potter," she said, startling both Siri and Harry. "I believe I will have to have Mr. Greystone here so that I may learn what is wrong with you." Siri held back his laughter at Harry's scowl. "You are one of the most stubborn people - patient or otherwise - I have ever met."

Dumbledore gave a hearty chuckle at that, his eyes still twinkling. Once he calmed down, he sat down on the other side of Harry's bed from Siri.

"I'm afraid that I must ask you if it was Voldemort or not, Harry," the headmaster asked.

Harry carefully nodded his head. "Yeah, it was. I could feel it...."

:1:1:

Harry curled up against Siri, feeling his warmth. Once Dumbledore had been satisfied, Madam Pomfrey had wanted Siri to go up to Gryffindor tower. Harry had protested, finally using his 'not feeling well' card. Siri had then curled up beside Harry, and he had felt his body relax into sleep. Harry had been unable to sleep, though, his mind still whirling with a hundred dozen thoughts.

Dumbledore had listened to Harry with a steady face, but the twinkle had shown up at the end of Harry's explanation. That was frustrating, because Harry didn't understand why the headmaster was happy.

Harry certainly wasn't happy.

"'Ry?"

Siri's sleep-hoarse whisper roused him from his brooding.

"Need to sleep, Harry," he continued, pulling Harry tighter against him. Siri pressed a light kiss behind Harry's ear. "Worry in the morning."

Harry put his hand over Siri's, twining their fingers together. "I will, Siri. I will."

* * *

Harry sighed as he sat on his bed, tired after his busy day. September had flown by faster than he ever could have imagined. After getting out of Madam Pomfrey's clutches, he and Siri had met up with Ron and Hermione, who had refused to look at each other.

Harry had tried for a week to get them to say what had happened, but they refused. So Harry had gone off with Siri, glad that he could use this as an excuse to 'get closer' to Siri. Ron had been hurt at first, but Harry had told both he and Hermione that he wasn't going to play favorites between his two best friends while they themselves were fighting.

Two weeks into school and Harry had had enough of it. Luring them to the Room of Requirement, he'd made it so that they only way Ron and Hermione could leave was if they made up. Harry shoved them in, closed the door, and pulled Siri off to a dark corner in the library to talk, but they'd ended up having what Siri called a 'make-out session.'

Ron and Hermione had sheepishly crawled into the Gryffindor common room and apologized to Harry.

Harry had then made them squirm as the rest of the Gyrffindors watched on as they explained they had been fighting over Harry's collapse and what they should do. Ron had wanted to wait until Harry was ready to talk about it - and Harry had silently agreed with this argument - while Hermione had wanted to ask the next morning. From there it had escalated to who knew best for Harry.

He felt loved, really he did, but it was a bit overwhelming to know that he was the reason his friends were fighting.

Harry and Siri had paired up in most classes. While Ron had been a little hurt, he'd listened to Harry when he said to use this as an excuse to get closer to Hermione. Now those two were almost as inseparable as Harry and Siri were.

Harry did feel a little guilty, every once in a while, about not being able to tell his friends. It was safer for them not to know, though. Siri had helped where he could in that respect - even if it led to scrunching together in a closet to escape Filch on the way to the kitchen. Most night they never made it that far.

Now it was the last weekend of October, and Harry was gearing up for the first Quidditch game. It was against Ravenclaw, and Harry wondered how Cho was going to act around him. So far she had avoided him, except for DA meetings. The two they had held so far - with Dumbledore's full permission - had consisted of Cho hanging in the back and not looking at either Harry or Siri. Harry didn't feel any guilt, because he knew they'd both been to blame.

Ron smacked him on the shoulder and almost knocked Harry over with the sudden movement.

"Ready, Harry?"

Harry glared at him, but couldn't hold the expression at the excitement in his friend's eyes. He wasn't going to let Ron down after the disappointment of tryouts.

"Harry?"

He smiled at Ginny as she made her way to the entrance to the pitch. Behind her were the other new chasers: Natalie McDonald, who was a third year, and Roman Scaerplius, a second year. Kirke and Sloper finally left, revealing Siri standing in the doorway.

Ron laughed and hit his elbow into Harry's side. "Look, Harry! Your boyfriend's worried about you," he razzed.

Harry smacked a fist into Ron's shoulder, then smiled at Siri. "A minute, then?"

Ron nodded. "Sure thing. You've recited your pep talk about a billion times. I think that _I_ could say it in my sleep." He laughed as he left the room.

Siri moved towards Harry. "I'm sorry to have to do this, Harry, but Remus thinks he's gotten a credible lead on where Wormtail is."

Harry stepped back in shock. "What?" No, Sirius could not be doing this. It was not possible that he was doing this now, ten minutes before Harry's quidditch game.

Siri's face drooped. "He wants me to go with him, Harry."

Harry closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly.

"Harry," Siri breathed into his ear. He was close enough that Harry could feel his body heat. "I won't leave unless you want me to."

Something unfurled in Harry's belly. He was being selfish, wanting Sirius to watch his match. There would be other matches, but there might not be another chance to catch Wormtail for quite a while.

Harry enveloped Siri in a hug. "Go. And good luck on the rat hunting." He tightened his arms in a brief squeeze.

"You sure?" Siri asked, returning the hug.

Harry nodded. "Go on now, and catch the bastard." Harry gave Siri a shy kiss on the cheek.

"You bet I will." Siri pecked his lips and pulled away. "Have a good game, Harry."

He watched Sirius walk out the door and said, "I will" as Ron yelled for him to get moving.

* * *

Sirius tiredly rubbed his hand across his eyes and looked across their little encampment at Remus. The amber-eyed man was dozing lightly and seemed to twitch at every little sound in the vicinity. Sirius himself had just woken up and was readying himself to take over watch from Tonks.

Remus had discovered a hiding place of Wormtail's, and now they were keeping watch on it for the next time he came to it. Dumbledore had sent Tonks after a couple of days, to help relieve the two men. The headmaster had been concerned at the lack of action, but also the fact that neither Sirius nor Remus were getting the rest they needed when Wormtail finally appeared.

The bad part about the youthfulness that Harry had wrapped around Sirius was that the puppy named Monster couldn't track smells very well. As Padfoot, Sirius had been able to track three to four scents at a time. Monster's form, however, couldn't quite distinguish scents as well. Still, Sirius had persevered with using Monster's nose to track their quarry to the apparition point Wormtail used when coming to this particular hiding place.

This was the spot they were now watching, and Sirius knew it was only a matter of time for his old friend to make an appearance. The intelligence they had received about Voldemort's activities indicated that he was using Wormtail as a go-between the various Inner Circle Death Eaters. Sirius knew that Wormtail would take any opportunity to get away from Voldemort, yet still be in the man's employ.

_Was he a man?_ Sirius thought as he nodded at Tonks, sitting down next to her at the appointed time. _Or was he now some odd type of demon that Harry had described from the Muggle fairy tales he'd read in grammar school?_

A smile crossed his lips as he thought of Harry. When Tonks had arrived, she had told he and Remus that Gryffindor had smashed Ravenclaw into the ground, winning with the score 370 to 90. She had also added that Harry had done the perfect Wronski Feint, which had led to Cho Change burying her broom handle into the pitch when she tried to follow. Sirius wondered if she'd been annoying Harry so much that he'd resorted to such a move. He knew the past between those two, but he knew that Harry would never try to harm her, even if Sirius himself wanted her to know what she'd done to Harry.

Sirius would take back everything he'd ever said about Harry being a fine flyer, just as James had been. He knew that Harry was a much better flyer than James ever was, and much better than anybody else at the school. He was still the smallest of the seekers, but not by much. The Hufflepuff seeker had shot up to rival Ron's height. Judging by Harry's performance, it was only a matter of time before the pro scouts would come calling.

A snap of a twig alerted him to movement, off to the left. Sirius roused himself from his musing and looked in that direction, only to see a ghostly outline in the almost-full moonlight. The pale light glinted off of a silver hand, its unnaturalness emphasized by the fact the rest of the outline was flesh by comparison.

Sirius saw that Wormtail's appearance had deteriorated even further since the last time he'd seen him in the Shrieking Shack. The once pudgy man had lost weight rapidly enough to leave great masses of flabby skin hanging from his chin and arms. The dark mark stood out on his pale skin, glittering menacingly in the moonlight.

That was when Sirius realized that it was the first night of the full moon. It was the night when Remus was most like a wolf, trapped in a man's body. He silently hurried back to their camp, worried about Tonks. He arrived to find Tonks petting Remus' hair like one would a favored dog. She gave a bewildered grin before it changed to questioning.

"What is it?" she asked.

"He's here," Sirius stated grimly.

She jumped up, startling Remus from where he'd practically been laying against her legs. It seemed to jolt him enough to where he had human awareness.

"What's the problem?" Remus asked, sounding as if he wasn't all there. "Is he here?"

Sirius nodded.

Remus straightened, his face and demeanor changing to one heading off to defend their family. Sirius supposed that this situation was exactly that, so he didn't say anything. Instead, he grabbed hold of his wand - which he really appreciated Dumbledore getting for him - and gathered the cage that McGonagall had transfigured and Flitwick had charmed. It was unbreakable, and Wormtail would be unable to change into the other form, no matter which one they caught him in. Sirius was personally hoping for his rat form, so that Monster could take a bite. Or two.

Wormtail neared the small cottage he had been using, the front door swaying drunkenly to one side, while the roof had a couple of gaping holes to let the elements inside. He swung his silver hand about, like he was using it to light up the area.

Wormtail pulled a small bag closer and stepped foot onto the decaying porch, just as Remus came flying from the right, ripping the bag away and slugging the rat animagus across the nose. Blood spurted as Wormtail's head hit the wooden porch. Sirius and Tonks came upon them just as Remus landed another punch, this time in the jaw.

Sirius moved forward to pull Remus off. After all, he wanted to get a couple of smacks in on his former friend as well. Didn't he deserve it after twelve years in Azkaban because of the stinking rat?

He had just placed his foot on the porch when Wormtail recovered lightning quick. His silver hand grasped Remus around the neck, burning the werewolf's skin. Wormtail turned a fierce face in Sirius and Tonks' direction.

"Once step closer, and I'll kill him."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. He wasn't about to let his friend be killed, and he certainly wasn't about to let the rat go free. Not after all this time.

He suddenly jumped forward, pushing his wand through the silver hand, as if it were a skewer, with all his weight behind it. Wormtail was forced to let Remus go as he screamed in pain. His beady eyes looked up at Sirius with hate as he tried to move Sirius off of him.

Sirius pulled his wand out of the silver hand, a gooey, silvery essence weeping from the wound.

"You disgust me, filth," Sirius spat, making sure he hit Wormtail in the face with his saliva. "You sold your friends out for what?"

Wormtail reached out with his wounded, silver hand and tried to get it around Sirius' neck. Sirius smacked it away and wrapped his own hands around Wormtail's neck.

"I'm going to make you pay," he raged. "You'll pay for what you did to James. What you did to Lily. And especially for what you did to Harry!" He watched with a kind of glee as Wormtail's eyes bulged and his face began turning a pale blue. Sirius barely felt the fingers digging into his arms, the silver hand still having a powerful grip even with it being wounded.

He literally growled when Tonks pulled him back. She stepped back as she said, "You can't kill him, Sirius. If you do, you won't ever be free."

Sirius looked at the now unconscious form of Wormtail, then at Remus. His friend slowly and painfully shook his head 'no.' Sirius conceded the point, thinking of how happy Harry would be to publicly be able to acknowledge him, but he would prefer it without the bit about Sirius really being his godfather.

He smiled just enough to scare his companions before blacking out from the pain in his arms.

:1:1:

Sirius shuffled into the Gryffindor sixth year boys' dormitory, exhausted all through his body. Remus and Tonks had sent him back to Hogwarts two hours earlier. The last week had been hard, with this last night being the worst. He still couldn't believe that they had finally captured Wormtail.

The pain in his left arm would be sure to remind him of that fact for a while.

He'd stopped by the headmaster's office to give their report, while Remus and Tonks headed off to the ministry, where they would meet up with Kingsley and Amelia Bones. There they would set up a hearing with the Wizengamot without Fudge's knowledge. From there, it was only a matter of time before Sirius Black would be free.

Until that time, though, he wouldn't waste his time thinking about it. All Sirius wanted to do at this moment was to climb into his nice, soft bed and pretend he hadn't spent the last week in a musty tent that had shoddy plumbing. Dumbledore had sent him off to bed with a vial full of generic pain-reliever and had told him to see Madam Pomfrey in the morning. Sirius hadn't argued with that, because he wanted to see Harry rather than the inside of the hospital wing.

He crept in silently, using the almost-full moon to guide him to Harry's bed. Pulling open the curtains, Sirius discovered it empty, with the covers unslept upon. He started to panic, thinking that Harry was once again under Pomfrey's care, but it was quelled when he noticed someone lying in his own bed.

A smile crept onto his face as he moved towards the bed. Harry lay curled in a ball, and the only thing visible above the duvet was a mop of extremely messy black hair. Sirius closed the curtains and slipped under the covers, wrapping his arms carefully around the reassuringly warm body. Harry seemed to automatically nestle into Sirius' arms, the action bringing home the reality that Sirius was here and alive and well on his way to being free.

He lay quietly, snuggling up tight to a sleeping Harry, whose warm breath brushed against Sirius' neck in an even cadence. Sirius relaxed to the rhythm and it eventually soothed him to sleep.

Sirius was woken up by something tickling his nose. He scrunched and twisted it, trying to get away from the sensation. When he couldn't, he pried one eye open and found he was looking at a bunch of tousled, black hair. A smile played upon his lips and held there even as he pressed a kiss to Harry's head.

Sunlight was edging through a small gap in the bed curtains, but not enough to tell what time it really was. That didn't matter at the moment, though. Not with Harry securely in his arms. Although he could definitely use some more sleep.

The curtains were suddenly ripped apart as Ron Weasley yelled, "Rise and shine, Harry!"

Siri snickered at the shocked expression that contorted Ron's face when he caught sight of the two wrapped in each other's arms on the bed. The red head's face broke out into a smile.

"You're back! Harry's going to be happy."

Harry mumbled into Sirius' jaw.

"What's that, Harry?" Ron asked in a still-too-loud voice.

One angry, sleep-filled green eye opened as Harry moved his head up enough to glare at Ron. "I said," he began in a steady voice, "that I would be even happier if you were quieter in the morning."

Ron guffawed as Harry pulled away from Siri enough to throw the bed's lone pillow at the red head. As he left, Harry waved a hand at the curtains, closing them. He looked down at Siri from where he was half-sitting and smiled.

Siri smiled back, almost overwhelmed at the happiness on Harry's face.

"When did you get in?" Harry asked as he lay back down.

He waited until Harry was nestled against him once more, their noses barely an inch apart. "Late," Siri finally answered. "But we got him, Harry."

Harry's face lit up. "Really?"

Sirius nodded.

"Where's he now?"

He grinned when he realized just where Wormtail was at the moment.

"What?" Harry asked.

Sirius felt his grin grow wider as he said, "Right about now, Tonks and Kingsley should be holding him in custody as a trial is set before the Wizengamot and the Minister. Remus said that he would let Amelia Bones right away, and I myself let Dumbledore know last night before coming to bed."

Harry smiled at him. "Good."

Sirius looked, really looked, into the green eyes across from his own pale blue ones. In them lay happiness, love, and just the slightest be of uncertainty about what was going to happen next. It struck him suddenly that he was reading Harry's feelings. He had never done anything like that with any of the people he'd been with when he was younger.

He leaned forward, brushing his lips against Harry's. Sirius could feel Harry's emotions with his mouth, a strange yet wonderful sensation that poured through his body. He let himself sink deeper into the kiss.

When they finally parted, Siri felt like he could float to the heavens. He felt complete in a way he had _never_ felt before, just by being with Harry like this. A beatific smile cross Harry's lips, stretching both the feeling and the moment. Sirius returned it as he pulled Harry closer to him once more, content to bask in this feeling.


	10. Chapter 10

AN: Thanks to every one that reviewed! I trying to get my beta to finish with chapter 11, but I have the feeling she's not happy with it. However, I will try my hardest to get it up sometime next week, but I'm not making any promises.

* * *

Chapter 10

Sirius hadn't liked the Christmas holiday season until coming to Hogwarts. His family hadn't exactly been a good example of good cheer - or anything even close to it. No, they were firmly ensconced in the 'we are Dark and damn proud of it' category.

That's why he had so enjoyed Christmas in his first year. He had signed up to stay at the school, knowing that his family Were Not Happy with Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor. His new best friend, James, had signed up after learning Sirius would be staying. He had stated to his parents, in his letter home, that he was determined to show his friend Sirius how the rest of the world celebrated the holidays.

He had had so much fun that year, and the years that had followed. But the best Christmas that he had celebrated - up until this one - was the Christmas after Harry had been born. James' parents had visited, and all of their friends had joined their Christmas Eve party. Sirius had cajoled Peter (grr) into coming as the Muggles' Father Christmas.

Looking back on it now, Sirius realized that Harry had begun to shy away from Peter starting then. When Lily had set him in Peter's lap for a picture, Harry had started crying and refused to sit still. James had joked that 'Father Christmas' smelled of reindeer, which had set off another of James and Lily's famous arguments about the difference between Father Christmas and Santa Claus. Their fight had just amused Sirius, ignoring Harry's behavior when Lily declared he was just tired.

Now he knew much differently how things would have changed if he had paid more attention.

He wasn't going to dwell on it now, though. Not when he was sharing this holiday season with Harry once more. Sirius had thought last year had been as fantastic as it could have been in Grimmauld Place. But this year was already better, because they were staying at Hogwarts. It hadn't taken much to persuade Dumbledore to let them stay, using the 'Harry is safer staying here' card.

Most of the students had gone home this morning, leaving just a few students per house. Even Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had returned home. One morning last week, Ron had reluctantly told Harry and Siri that his mother had written that they needed to come home, because Molly wanted to visit her last remaining aunt, who lived somewhere in York. At least, that's where Siri thought Ron had said where they were going.

Hermione was also going home, but by her choice. She had told them that while she wanted to stay and be with Harry, she also wanted to visit with Ron and meet the rest of his family. Instead of choosing between her friends, she had decided that she wanted to visit her parents while she could. After all, she had told them, it wouldn't be very much longer before she moved away from them after graduating, and she wanted to have at least one more family Christmas with them. Ron had gotten angry, but Harry had agreed with her that family was important. Siri, himself, hadn't been all that impressed with his own family, but had privately agreed with Harry, since Hermione's parents were some of the nicest people on the planet. Even if they did drill holes in people's teeth.

At lunch, Dumbledore had announced that all remaining students were welcome to go to Hogsmeade tomorrow, as long as a teacher accompanied them. Siri had already badgered Hagrid to be his and Harry's escort. He would have asked Remus, but the man had left for a mission for Dumbledore regarding something neither man would tell Sirius about. Hagrid had gone to take care of Grawp for a few days, leaving Harry in charge of Fang. And Fang, of course, had somehow sensed Siri's animagus form was a dog, because the boarhound was always goosing him. Siri wanted to get back at Hagrid solely for that.

Siri looked across the table at Harry as they sat in the Gryffindor common room an hour before dinner. The green-eyed teen was writing some notes as he read his Transfiguration book. Together, the two of them had decided that they would finish their holiday homework as fast as they could. That way, they wouldn't be rushed once the Weasleys returned from York.

Harry looked up, as if able to sense Siri's gaze on him.

"What is it?" Harry asked.

Siri smiled. "Nothing. I just like looking at you."

Harry's face flushed to a light pink. "Don't, Siri."

He smirked as Harry put his face in his hands to cover his reddening cheeks. Siri looked away for the briefest of seconds to see where the Creevey brothers were. They were the only other Gryffindors to stay at the school for the entire holiday, and their youngest brother, Eric, joined them rather than sit with a seventh year in the common room of Ravenclaw.

Colin waved when he made eye contact with Siri, alerting Dennis. Siri thought it was hilarious that Dennis practically worshipped the ground Harry walked upon. Harry, of course, thought otherwise. Siri waved back at the Creevey brothers before turning his attention back to Harry. The other boy had gone crimson, and with his green eyes, he looked like the muggle wrapping paper Hermione had sent their gifts wrapped in.

"Stop it, Siri," Harry pouted from between his fingers. "You're being cruel."

Siri laughed evilly and launched across the table, digging his fingers into spots he knew that Harry was ticklish. A loud peal of laughter followed the both of them to the floor. Siri moved his hands quickly up and down Harry's sides, making sure to catch the spot between his neck and shoulder.

He leaned forward and scraped his teeth over the sensitive spot, whispering in an Eastern European accent, "I vant to suck your blood!"

Harry giggled and pulled him down for a swift peck on the lips. "You big goof! I should have never let you watch Dracula."

Siri smiled. "I do aim to please, kind sir."

A breeze came from the side and Colin abruptly shut up. Siri looked over and saw all three Creevey brothers staring in horror in their direction, but beyond where he and Harry lay.

"Malfoy," Harry spat from underneath Siri as he straddled Harry's legs. "How did you get in?"

A smirk crossed the blond's face. "A portrait is all you have to guard the sainted Gryffindor tower?" He looked at his two companions - Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini. "How pathetic can they get?"

Dennis stood up. "Get out, Malfoy. You're not supposed to be in here!"

Nott scoffed and slapped Malfoy in the arm. "Get that, boys. Think he's going to make us leave, or will they have to go crying to Catlady?"

Zabini brayed like a donkey as Malfoy snickered. "Is she going to meow at us?" Zabini laughingly said.

Below Siri, Harry moved his legs. Siri looked down into green eyes. Harry smiled reassuringly and nodded. Siri gave an answering smile and climbed off of Harry's legs.

Harry slowly climbed to his feet to stand tall in front of the three invading Slytherins.

"Malfoy," Harry began in a level voice. "You have exactly ten seconds to leave Gryffindor tower."

The Slytherin trio laughed.

"Very funny, scarhead!" Malfoy retorted.

"Five. Four. Three. Two." Harry smirked. "Too late to run, Malfoy." He clapped his hands and shouted "Bassinet!"

The room went dark. About three seconds later, screams came through the darkness from where the three Slytherins had been standing. Sirius blinked as a bright light flashed into the pitch black room.

When he could see once more, Siri found the Slytherins missing and Harry panting heavily. Sweat had popped out along his brow and his skin was as pale as Nearly Headless Nick was.

"Harry?" he asked, moving forward just in time to catch Harry as his knees gave way.

"How did you do that, Harry?" Dennis asked as he came closer.

"Are you all right?" Eric asked as he and Colin watched from behind Dennis.

Siri could feel Harry's arms shake against his own. He picked up Harry, who didn't even utter a sound - not even of protest - and carried him over to the divan that sat in front of the fire. Siri made sure he was comfortable before pulling the afghan off the back and draping it across Harry's legs.

"Okay?"

Harry nodded. "I'll be fine in a little bit."

It was at this moment that a harried looking Professor McGonagall came barreling through the portrait hole. A wisp of hair had fallen out of her severe bun, and she wielded her cane as though it was a sword.

"Is everything all right in here?" she asked, the tiniest bit winded.

All five boys nodded.

McGonagall eyed them all with a judicious look. Her gaze rested on Harry and her expression turned to concern. "Are you feeling well, Potter?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm okay."

She leveled a look that said she didn't quite believe that. McGonagall lingered a few seconds more before addressing the five Gryffindors before her.

"What happened here? Headmaster Dumbledore and I happened upon three very terrified boys at the bottom of the stairs five minutes ago."

"They somehow got past the Fat Lady, Professor," Dennis volunteered the information. "Then they laughed at us. Then Harry stood up and said 'You have ten seconds to leave,'" he tried to sound like Harry. Siri and Harry rolled their eyes at that.

Dennis continued in a breathless, excited voice. "And he counted down 'Five four three two.' Then 'it's too late, Malfoy.' Then he yelled 'Bassinet' and the room went dark." He turned to Harry. "Why did you say 'bassinet' anyway?"

"It triggers the wards in case any person from another house breaks into the tower," Harry said in a solemn voice. He winked at Siri as he finished.

Siri smiled and nodded. "I think it's passed down to each batch of sixth years. Isn't it?"

Harry nodded in agreement and they both turned to look at McGonagall in tandem.

McGongall's thin lips were quivering, but Siri wasn't sure with what. Even though it was the holidays, she could still mete out any detention or punishment that could be given during term.

The Head of Gryffindor gestured to the Creevey brothers. "You three head down to the Great Hall. Dinner will be served shortly." She turned to Siri and Harry as the three left, Colin throwing a worried look in their direction before climbing past the portrait.

"What is this all about, gentlemen? And what happened to make those boys that scared? What have my students done with my wards?"

Siri looked at Harry, trying to convey the idea that he could explain. Harry nodded.

"Professor, Harry made up the idea of the wards because of Colin, Dennis, and Eric. Professor Dumbledore doesn't want any of the students to know that Harry can do some wandless magic."

"What did you do, Potter?" McGonagall asked, a worried frown on her face.

Harry sighed. "I doused all of the lights and made them think their particular boggart was touching them. Then I gave them a push down the stairs, which had become a slide."

"And you did this all without touching your wand, inside of the common room?" she questioned.

Harry nodded in a tired manner. He snuggled down into the cushions and pulled the afghan closer.

"Well," the transfiguration professor sighed. "We should get you down to the infirmary and have Madam Pomfrey give you a check up."

Harry shook his head. "I'll be fine, professor. I'm just a little cold and hungry."

Professor McGonagall aimed a stern glance at Harry. Siri held back a smirk when her expression softened in the face of Harry's puppy dog eyes. His pupil had learned well, Siri decided.

"Very well. But if you have any problems at all, Potter, I expect you to head to the infirmary right away." She turned and leveled an even gaze at Siri. "And you keep an eye on him, Sirius."

She was almost out the door when she turned around. "Remus found where Kreacher was hiding, Sirius."

Siri perked up. "Where was he?"

McGonagall smiled a quite evil looking grin. "Inside Buckbeak's stomach. Second stomach, actually."

Both Siri and Harry's laughter filled the room. Neither one was being cruel. It was hard to be, when both of them had been betrayed by the evil house elf.

Siri looked at Harry. "Are you okay to go down and eat?"

Harry nodded. "I'll just be a little slow."

"Too bad you don't have a convenient animal form that I could carry you down in my arms," Siri offhandedly remarked.

Harry's face lit up. "I could try."

Siri glared at him. "You are not going to be doing anything like that tonight, Mr. Potter! It takes too much out of you the first hundred times you try it, and you're not strong enough to do that right now!"

Harry touched his arm. "Siri, I was only teasing you." He gave the puppy dog look again. "I'm sorry."

Sirius looked at him and couldn't resist the slightly pouty lips. He opened his arms and Harry walked into him embrace.

"I really am sorry, you know."

"I know."

They stood there for almost a minute when Harry's stomach growled, closely followed by Siri's.

Siri smiled into Harry's ear. "Let's go tame the beast that is your tummy with some nutritious victuals. Then we can find some chocolate to satisfy my own."

Harry laughed and nodded, tugging Siri out the portrait hole and down the stairs.

* * *

000000

Harry smiled as he watched the snowfall gently outside the window. He remembered an old Christmas song from an old American movie that Aunt Petunia always cried when watching. He would silently sing along, inside his cupboard, wondering what was happening on the television screen. Harry doubted he could watch it, knowing that it was nothing like what he imagined it to be. He didn't think that his parents had ever been Hollywood stars.

Warm arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him up against a solid, comforting chest. Siri rested his chin on the top of Harry's head, his black hair hanging slightly into Harry's peripheral vision. Siri slid both of them a little more into the window seat, tucking his body along Harry's back and legs.

"Whatcha' doing?" Sirius asked after a while.

Harry smiled, even if Siri couldn't see it. "Singing in my head."

He chuckled, and Harry could feel it through his back as Siri's chest moved. "And what are you singing about?"

Harry ducked his head and looked at where his and Siri's hands were clasped. Shaking his head, he said, "nothing, really. Just an old song that Aunt Petunia cried at."

Siri squeezed Harry's waist the tiniest bit. "Sing for me, then would you?"

He shook his head. "I can't sing, Siri. You know that from last Christmas."

"I know very well that you have quite the pleasant singing voice, Harry," Sirius admonished. "You can thank your mother for that. She sang quite prettily. James, on the other hand, sounded like a frog when he tried to carry any sort of tune, whatsoever."

Harry laughed, trying to picture it next to the image he'd created so long ago.

"Sing for me, then?"

Resigned to humiliation, even if it was meant in good stead, Harry began.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write...."

Once finished, he waited for Siri to say something. When he didn't, Harry twisted enough to look back at him. What he saw astounded him.

Sirius Black was speechless. Even as Harry watched, it took him several minutes to gather himself.

"Harry, that was beautiful."

He started to protest, but Siri shook his head.

"No, I mean it, Harry. It felt and sounded beautiful, and I could almost taste your happiness. It was almost as if...."

He looked at Harry with a very calculating look to his face. "I think that we'd better see Dumbledore in the morning after the Christmas Feast. I think you just stumbled onto another one of those abilities, Harry."

Harry sat, stunned. He was doubtful that this would amount to anything but the humiliation, only this time from Snape when Dumbledore brought him in. At least McGonagall, who was sure to also be in the headmaster's office when they went, wouldn't laugh.

"Harry."

He looked back at Siri, who smiled gently at him.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. I think this is the real deal, but I'd rather you spend the rest of the evening thinking about the holiday." He grinned widely. "Or you could just concentrate on me. I guarantee that you won't have any problems in not thinking about anything except singing my praises."

Harry laughed, a deep belly laugh like he usually did whenever Siri boasted in a grandiose manner.

"Siri...." He could feel his cheeks start to redden as Siri leered down at him.

"What? I like looking at you, Harry." Sirius seemed to sober. "You're beautiful, Harry."

Harry squirmed a little at the compliment, definitely not comfortable with the sentiment at all.

Siri tilted his head down and caught Harry's lips in a slow, soft caress, and Harry forgot to be awkward.

* * *

000000

"So you think you're big man on campus now, right, Potter?" Draco Malfoy came from the side hall that Harry and Siri were walking past.

Harry turned to him and lifted an eyebrow. "Jealous of the one position you've never held? After all, I've heard you've tried lots of them, but never have a repeat." Harry paused as Malfoy grew red in the face. "Repeat customers, that is. Isn't that correct?"

Malfoy lunged at him, but Harry just stepped to the side. Malfoy's newest set of companions, Nott and Zabini, laughed as the blond Slytherin tripped over his own feet and almost fell flat on his face. The boy sneered and glared at his fellow housemates before reaching for Harry again.

Harry dodged the clumsy punch aimed for his head - he couldn't tell which part it really was for. Malfoy swung again, this time more towards his stomach. Harry danced out of the way and looked over at Siri. _He_ was watching the entire scene with a mix of amusement and worry on his face. Harry smiled at him reassuringly and sidestepped another jab from Malfoy.

"Fight me like a man, Potter!" Malfoy jibbed.

"And go up against a little boy like you?" Harry retorted. "I doubt your pals here could fight against me like a man, either."

"Harry?" Siri asked in a worried tone.

"I'll take you on, Potter," Nott said as he stepped forward with a swaggering step. "Let's see how you do against the two of us - "

"The three of us," Zabini interrupted. "And whoever punches you out rules Slytherin the rest of the year."

"Harry..."

Harry looked at Siri and shook his head. "Let me do this by myself, Siri." He looked off into the distance as something buzzed in the back of his mind. "Besides, Dumbledore's on his way."

Malfoy rushed up suddenly, pointing his wand between Harry's eyes. He wore an evil smirk as he said, "I'll be the one who rules."

Harry moved swiftly and ended up behind Malfoy, pointed his index finger into the small of the blond's back. "Whom are you ruling?" He let loose a stunner point blank and threw up a shield as Malfoy dropped to the floor.

"Dirty bastard," Zabini snarled as his hex reflected off Harry's shield with a bright green flash.

"I'll have you know," Harry said as he twisted and moved in a zigzag pattern towards the dark haired boy, "that my parents were perfectly and happily married to each other an entire year before I arrived."

He shifted so that he was an inch from Zabini's nose. "Boo!" He fell with another point blank stunner, this one in the chest.

Harry turned and faced his final opponent with a grin that felt like it stretched from ear to ear.

"Ready or not, here I come."

Nott rushed forward, and Harry knew he was totally depending on his size to take him down. While he wasn't as large as either Crabbe or Goyle, he was still pretty big and twice as smart as the two put together.

Harry wasn't worried though, because Nott used the same theory as Dudley had until he took up boxing: overpower them and then beat them the hell up. And it wasn't like Harry hadn't had lots of practice avoiding any punches, kicks, etc, thrown at him by his cousin.

He smiled and swooped his right leg, tripping the bigger boy. "And they all fall down." This time it was a stunner in the thigh.

Harry stood, his head feeling a little woozy as he panted slightly. He looked over at Siri, whose eyes were large, and he wore a stunned expression.

"Did I do okay then, Siri?" he asked, dizziness creeping through his head as he turned to face him.

"Harry?" Siri asked, incredulously.

"Mr. Potter?" came McGonagall's voice as she, Professor Dumbledore, and Snape approached.

He threw a loop smiled at Siri. "I think I'll pass out now," he said as he pitched forward.


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. Also, thanks must be given to my brother-in-law, who stepped in as beta when my regular beta got sick. Thanks, Ben!  
Thanks for being so patient. RL was _extremely_ busy these past two months, so I didn't get to put these up when they were ready. I hope you like the rest of the story!

* * *

Chapter 11 

"I think I should just move in."

Siri whipped around to see Harry glaring at the pajama shirt Pomfrey had stuffed him into. The green-eyed teen looked up and locked onto Siri's own gray ones.

"Don't you think?" Harry asked.

Siri shook his head to clear it. "I don't think what?"

"That I should move into the hospital wing," Harry disgustedly said.

He smirked. "I don't think Pomfrey would let us do anything kinky."

Harry's face flushed a violent red. "Siri. We don't..."

"I know."

"You're cruel."

"You love me anyway."

Harry smiled almost insanely. "I must be mad to do so."

Siri gave a mock pout. "Then you don't love me."

The green eyes glared. "Siri," he warned.

He put his hands up in surrender. "I get it." He looked at Harry with as open an expression he could. "And I love you, too."

Harry gave a pleased smile.

They managed a few seconds of comfortable silence before Madam Pomfrey bustled in, starched skirts rustling.

"I thought I asked you to inform me when Mr. Potter awoke, Mr. Greystone."

Siri grinned cheekily. "But then you wouldn't have anyone to yell at. Except Harry, and I can't let you do that to him." He paused dramatically. "He isn't feeling the best, after all. That wouldn't be very fair to him."

Pomfrey seemed to be holding back a smile, so Siri bowed deeply to try and coax it out.

The nurse chuckled lightly in response, with Harry's groan in accompaniment. Pomfrey shook her head at Siri's antics.

"Mr. Greystone, you do remind me of several students who attended Hogwarts before you were born." She sobered quickly before continuing. "But the dead are better left alone."

Siri's jovial mood plunged rapidly and it wavered between sorrow for James and worry that Pomfrey might make the correct connections regarding his name. It wouldn't do for someone to connect Siri Greystone with Sirius Black, even if the rest of the world thought him to be dead. Only members of the Order knew he was alive, and only a handful of them knew he was hiding here at the school in this disguise.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry broke the silence. "Do I have to stay, or can I leave for dinner and eat in the Great Hall?"

The nurse visibly shook herself. Emotionally regrouped, she patted Harry's hand. "Let's check you out then, Mr. Potter."

Harry groaned but then stayed silent. Siri himself was kicked out from behind the curtain. He strained his ears for any sound, other than Pomfrey's murmured scanning spell, but nothing came. Pomfrey finally came out from behind the curtain, closing it after her.

"Is he going to live?" Siri asked.

The nurse shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"Hey!" came Harry's indignant voice from the other side of the curtain.

Siri and Pomfrey smirked at each other. The nurse laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I do like you, Mr. Greystone. I do believe you have the right sort of levity for this place."

He stilled in shock as a memory came back to him with all the force of a high-speed bludger.

_"Blacks do not become healers!" his father shouted at him. He seemed to tower over Sirius in his anger, even though they were almost the same height._

_Sirius had just arrived home from his fifth year at Hogwarts. His mother had already shouted at him - for being a Gryffindor. Or existing in general, he couldn't tell which. McGonagall had sent home the career choices Sirius had selected, and rather than deal with it herself, his mother had given it to his father._

_Light gray eyes burned like a silver flame, while the rest of Severus Black's face was a violent purple. For a moment, Sirius was the tiniest bit afraid. Then he remembered that he was a Gryffindor and that Madam Pomfrey had said he had the healing touch when he'd brought Peter in from that broom incident._

_"So. Blacks also weren't supposed to be Gryffindors - " Sirius began._

_"That is another subject in which I will talk with you - again - when we are through here!"_

_A snigger from the doorway let Sirius know that Regelus was listening in - and it wasn't as if he would get punished for eavesdropping in the first place._

_Sirius' tolerance for his family was rapidly going in the negatives much farther than they had been. He was sixteen, dammit, and it was his life. He wasn't about to let his mother or father or even the portrait of some long dead ancestor tell him what he could or couldn't do._

_"No," he stated, standing tall. "We will not 'discuss' this."_

_Severus Black reached for his wand. "I will not tolerate talk like that in this house!" _

That was when Sirius had left home and moved in with James and his family. Sirius had been disappointed to learn that, in order to become a certified healer, he would need to complete two more years of schooling past Hogwarts. He was lucky enough that his parents had been proud enough to pay for all seven years of his schooling before he ever set foot on the Hogwarts Express. Otherwise, he would have been up shit creek without a paddle anywhere in the vicinity. Because of this, when he had left school, Sirius had joined James in Auror training but hadn't completed it by the time Voldemort visited Godric's Hollow.

Now it was looking like he would be able to pursue that career, after all. But only if....

He turned to Harry as they walked down to the Great Hall to eat. "Harry?"

"Hm?"

"What do you want to do after school?"

"You mean if I make it through NEWTs?"

Siri glared. "Stop that."

Harry grinned unrepentantly. "Hey, I've heard they aren't called Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests for nothing."

He tapped the green-eyed teen in the back of the head. "Answer the question."

Harry shrugged. "Right now the only thing I would be good at is being an Auror. And I really don't know what else I could do."

Siri looked at him. "We seriously need to talk, Harry."

"Seriously?"

He tapped him again.

"Sorry." Harry paused. "Yeah, I guess we should."

* * *

000000 

Harry wrinkled his nose at the smell of his potion. It reminded him of Dudley's socks - gym or otherwise - because it was just as rancid. He looked up to see where Snape was and sighed in relief when he saw the potions master was clear on the other side of the classroom. Next to him, Siri was already starting to bottle his potion up. Harry wasn't surprised, since Siri was just a little faster getting his ingredients chopped up. Of course, his potion wasn't as smooth as Harry's, since Siri wasn't as neat with his ingredients.

January and February had passed swiftly. And since Christmas, both Snape and Malfoy had steered clear of Harry and Siri, but for different reasons. Malfoy's reason was obvious to anyone who had heard about the scuffle in the hallway.

Snape, on the other hand, was avoiding them and had been since the news that Sirius Black had been 'posthumously' exonerated of all charges. With that brought a lot of attention to Harry, as well as Sirius' former classmates. The potions master had kept a quiet profile when the reporters had attempted to breach the school, and though Harry didn't know all of the reasons why, he knew enough of them.

His potion was finally through its timed simmer, so Harry took it off the flame. He quickly bottled it into the charmed vials he'd been using this year and set it on Snape's desk. Back at the bench, Siri had gotten together his bag, impatient to leave the dungeons.

"I still need to clean my cauldron, Siri."

He grinned. "No, you don't. I didn't clean mine."

Hermione came back from the sink where she had finished cleaning her own cauldron. "That is why your potions aren't turning out correctly. All potions need to start with a clean cauldron."

Siri shrugged. "Then I'll do it later." He looked at Harry with a pleading look. "Come on, Harry."

Harry shook his head. "Two minutes, Siri. Why don't you and Hermione head on up and I'll just finish putting this away."

"Okay," Siri said, even as Hermione offered to stay and help.

"Go on. I'll meet you at lunch." Harry picked up his cauldron and carried it over to the sink.

He was almost out the door when something made him pause. Harry wasn't sure what it was, but whatever it was, there was something definitely wrong.

The next moment, there was a loud bang behind him, and he was slammed into the sink, almost falling head first into it. A second shockwave followed, pushing Harry's midsection into the rim of the sink. Pain blossomed and quickly spread through his limbs and head.

The pain intensified, and Harry could feel the blackness creep in. He fought it off, though. There was something waiting for him in the darkness that he knew he did _not_ want to meet. Instead, he forced it away until all he could see was a bright green light. It was nowhere near the sickly green color of the killing curse, which had haunted his nightly slumber for years. The potions classroom appeared as only slightly darker images among the green, fading in to the point that Harry couldn't tell what he was looking at.

He turned to fully face the middle of the room, but it didn't feel normal. It felt almost like he didn't have feet or even legs. Harry tried to move his arms and the same thing happened. He thought that he should be panicking, but knew that he was safe here.

It reminded him of being hugged by Mrs. Weasley, or during fifth year at Christmas, when Sirius had happily sung - out of tune - at the top of his lungs. It made him think of lying in Siri's arms late at night with the bed curtains drawn tight, when they had finished talking about their day and were content to bask in the comfortable silence.

Harry wondered if this was the same green light that had been in the Department of Mysteries. When he had gone to rescue Sirius - though he didn't know it at the time, he'd just wanted some kind of contact - he hadn't paid much attention to the light itself. He had been more concerned about getting to Sirius and then to the Dursleys than what that room really contained. Even in those first few days, he hadn't thought about the actual light. It had been more about what he had been able to do all of a sudden.

He drifted for a while, content to bask in the peacefulness that surrounded him. Harry imagined this was what he had felt in his mother's arms. He didn't exactly remember it, but it felt so familiar.

Eventually he began wondering how long he had been here and just how he was supposed to go back to the real world. Not that this one wasn't real, but that it wasn't in the same timeline of his own world.

As soon as he thought that he needed to get back to Sirius and the rest of his family, he could feel his body returning. Harry felt like he was in a Gringotts cart, passing varying kinds of vaults, and dragons were trying to catch him with their fire.

Reality slammed into him and he couldn't hold back a groan. His midsection felt like it had been squished between two Dudleys who had decided to take up sumo wrestling instead of boxing. He opened his eyes to find he was still against the sink, a cauldron next to it on the countertop. Confused because he could remember turning around before going wherever that had been, he turned around to find the potions classroom decimated. Tables and chairs were practically in splinters, and the few cauldrons that hadn't been stored away were bent and twisted, with one almost fully embedded into the wall. The destruction was enormous, so why was he still standing with nothing more than a squished stomach?

"Harry?" Sirius' voice rang through the hallway just outside of where the door used to be. "Harry?!" He rushed into the room and almost fell over an upturned table that lay just inside the doorway. He swiveled his head and even from where Harry was standing he could see Siri's eyes widen when he caught sight of him.

"Harry! Are you all right?" Siri asked as he began climbing over debris. He slipped more than once on spilled potions from class and _did_ fall when he stepped in a greenish-black goo that stuck to the bottom of his shoe.

Harry smiled tiredly once Siri reached him. "I'm okay, Siri," he reassured the other boy. "Nothing major."

Siri waved his wand over Harry, even as the sounds of other people approaching reached their ears. "You are not fine, Harry!" Siri scolded. "Your stomach is bleeding and your spleen is about to burst. We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey right away, 'cause I don't know how to fix that."

Dumbledore and Snape walked in the room at the point.

"She is on her way, Mr. Greystone," the headmaster said.

Snape was already looking over the damage done to his classroom by the time Dumbledore finished speaking. "What happened?" he asked Harry. "Tell me what you remember."

Harry sighed and then winced as he body reminded him that he was in pain. He had the feeling this could take a while.

* * *

000000 

Siri and Harry stood by the window, watching the last of the students leave the castle on their way to the train station in Hogsmeade. Gryffindor Tower already seemed lonely, making Siri wish they could stay, but the Ministry had wanted the school year to end early, due to Voldemort's increased activity, especially when the student who had set off the potion to try and kill Harry turned out to be Marked. The self-proclaimed Dark Lord had rampaged through much of the British countryside, with some forays into the continent, and had even attacked the Ministry branch in Edinburgh. Dumbledore had agreed, reluctantly, when some parents had wanted their children to come home, stating that he was afraid it would leave the children vulnerable at home.

Fudge had compromised on sending the students home in batches and with a full force of Aurors on the train. It had taken quite a bit of arguing to get that much, and it had come about after the attack in Edinburgh, when the small shopping center and ministry building had been hit when it had been busy.

"This doesn't feel right," Harry said into the silence.

"What doesn't?" Siri asked, turning to look at him.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, but it just doesn't."

Siri studied his profile and then his face as Harry turned. "Are you all right?"

"No." He sighed when Siri moved to embrace him. "It's not physical. It's more like I can tell that _he's_ up to something, but I don't know what."

Sirius hugged Harry tightly and could feel a faint tremor run through him. He wished he could take all of this away from Harry, but Siri knew he couldn't. All he could do was to stand by Harry's side and give him what strength he could.

"I'm scared, Siri," Harry whispered into Siri's neck.

He tightened his hold on Harry. "It's okay to be scared, Harry," Siri whispered back. "It's very okay. I'm scared of losing you." His throat threatened to close on him as he said his greatest fear.

Harry pulled back just enough to look Siri in the eye. "You won't lose me, Siri. And I'm not going to lose you, either."

Siri looked deep into Harry's green eyes and could see the determination that was a flame within.

"Hold onto that thought, Harry. And I'll do the same."

Harry smiled the tiniest bit. "Promise?"

Siri nodded. "I most definitely promise."

* * *

000000 

The owl arrived three hours after the train left Hogsmeade. The Order members who were at Hogwarts had just finished eating when the poor barn owl winged its way into the Great Hall, crash landing into Professor Dumbledore's almost empty goblet of pumpkin juice. One wing was bent - obviously broken - and its back was badly scorched. The owl tried to hoot, but what sounded like a screech of pain came out.

Siri reached for the owl as the headmaster took the letter it had literally dropped into his lap.

"Who is it, Albus?" McGonagall asked.

"The Express has been attacked," Dumbledore said gravely. "It looks like Mr. McMillan's writing, but it is Miss Abbott's owl."

"She'll live," Siri said as he finished with a couple of basic healing spells. "She didn't fly too far to get here. Maybe thirty miles."

Dumbledore nodded. "Then let us move. The Aurors may be overwhelmed by the numbers Voldemort has managed to amass."

Siri stood with the others, cradling the injured owl. He looked at Harry, and their eyes met and locked, silently communicating.

"We should split into two groups," Harry said as most of the group reached the doors leading to the Entrance Hall. "I'll take the first and Dumbledore will follow with the second."

"Harry," Molly Weasley began. "You shouldn't come. None of the children should come."

"Yes, I should." Harry let loose some of his power, and Siri could feel it wash over him as if he stood in the ocean's waves at high tide. To him it was welcome and familiar. He had felt it many times before as Harry trained in the Room of Requirement. Others in the group, though, shuddered as Harry's magic bombarded them. Snape especially trembled, but Remus wasn't that far behind. Siri knew that it was because of the dark magic that lay within their bones and their souls, but for much different reasons.

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a couple of seconds before he nodded. "My group will leave twenty minutes after yours then, Harry."

"Albus!" "Dumbledore!" The older adults protested.

The Weasley boys looked at each other, then at their parents. "We're going with Harry, Mum," Bill said. "Ron will go with you, and Ginny is going to stay and help Madam Pomfrey."

Tonks stepped forward. "I'm going with Harry, and Kingsley and Em are following with you." She came over to where Siri was standing. "I'll keep an eye on him for you, Siri, until you get there."

He looked at his cousin. "How...?"

Tonks winked and then smirked. "You need better silencing charms."

Siri felt his face flush. He knew they had forgotten something last night, but they had taken advantage of the fact that the dorm room was empty but for them. Ron had gone to stay with his family in the guest wing, and they had felt that they were both finally ready to make love. Now it looked like they had both forgotten that several members of the Order had been given beds in the floors above and below them.

"Let's go," Harry said, saving Siri from more embarrassment.

As Harry pulled away, Siri grabbed his hand and squeezed. He was afraid that if he touched Harry any more than that he would never let him go. Instead, he let his eyes say everything that he needed to say.

"I'll see you there," he whispered as Harry squeezed back. Siri watched Harry until he was past the doors, stealing all chances of another glimpse for the moment. "I'll see you there."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The destruction was unbelievable as Siri made his way towards where Harry was fighting. He had been stopped by Tonks and pointed over to several students who needed medical aid immediately. The four students ranged from a first year Slytherin to seventh year Ravenclaw, and none of them would be able to wait to be portkeyed to the infirmary without medical attention.

He treated them as best as he could, forcing himself to keep to the task at hand and to not search for Harry on the battlefield this stretch of land had become. He had finished in time to look up and see that Harry had found Lucius Malfoy and begun fighting. Sirius gathered the four students and handed them one of the emergency portkeys Dumbledore had given him and sent them off to the infirmary, which had already been almost half-full when they had left.

"I don't think so, Greystone," a snobby voice called from his right when Siri was halfway to Harry from the train.

He turned to find Draco Malfoy standing there, wand pointed at him from underneath too long Death Eater robes.

"Have a little trouble finding a tailor?" Siri shot back. "And you poor baby. Daddy couldn't get you a mask?"

Malfoy actually growled at that, making Sirius laugh. If the kid had been halfway decent - a truly improbably wish in this family - he could have grown to like the bastard. But Narcissa had looked up to Bellatrix and not Andromeda, so he was as warped as the rest of the Malfoys and Blacks.

"You'll pay for that, Greystone." He charged Siri, waving his wand in a circle. "_Laniaus stipes!_"

Sirius dodged the cutting curse. It would have severed any limb it had touched, and it wouldn't be the best time for him to lose something valuable. Malfoy aimed again, but Siri sidestepped it, almost dancing around him. He'd learned long ago to let the enemy use as much energy as possible to save your own. He'd learned that trick from James' father, who had fought with Dumbledore against Grindelwald.

He circled the Malfoy heir, letting him grow more and more tired. He himself had only shot three hexes in his direction - just enough to keep the blond off balance. They were on the level of second year, while Malfoy was trying to fire off _very_ advanced dark curses. Siri was lucky enough to have missed getting hit by them and that they were isolated from the slowing battle. Some of the curses were ugly, to say the least.

Finally, Sirius judged Malfoy to be tired enough to begin his own offensive. While the blond had some athletic ability from Quidditch, he didn't have the same stamina or reflexes on the ground that were used on a broom. Siri physically charged him, tackling Malfoy to the ground and knocking his wand out of his hand.

Siri growled as he shoved his knees hard between Malfoy's legs, making the blond squeal in pain and shut his eyes. He used the opportunity to take his hands off Malfoy's arms and bind them to both each other and the ground. He knelt back and waited for the Slytherin to return to reality.

"I should make up for all of the torment you put Harry through, Malfoy," Siri snarled when he opened his eyes.

Malfoy had the audacity to smirk. "What are you going to do, you poof?"

Sirius narrowed his eyes as the urge to smack that smirk off grew to extraordinary levels. He reined himself in and leaned down to growl in his ear. "I'm going to make you wish you had never been born, cousin. I'm going to send you to hell."

"Cousin?" Malfoy spat as Siri leaned back to watch his face. "No mudblood is a cousin of mine."

This time Sirius was the one to smirk. "Who said I was a mudblood? After all, my bitch of a mother was a Nott before she married my father. And who did she marry?" Sirius pulled back just a little bit farther and forced his knees into Malfoy's thighs. "Why, it was your black-hearted bastard of a great uncle, the illustrious Severus Black." He didn't quite manage to hold back a burst of maniacal laughter at the expression on Malfoy's face.

"You're Black, are you? Potter's dogfather, who died."

Sirius nodded with another smirk and then scanned the field, letting the blond stew. He saw Harry limping towards him, a couple of cuts and a good-sized bruise visible from here. He smiled in relief, forgetting all about the blond Slytherin that lay underneath his knees, happy to see proof that Harry was alive. As far as he could see, there were the only two left standing in the entire field.

Harry stopped suddenly, a look of horror crossing his face as he looked beyond Siri.

He turned to look as pain engulfed him. A green light surrounded him, and in that half-second before nothing, he thought that he was supposed to stay with Harry, no matter what.

* * *

000000

"You bastard!" Harry screamed as Sirius slumped over onto a screaming Malfoy. "You mother fucking bastard!" He could _feel_ his heart shattering into enough pieces that it would take eternity to put together again.

The red-eyed man he was speaking to chuckled sinisterly. "Why bother grieving for your _beloved_ -" here he sneered nastily - "dogfather? You're next, Potter."

"Master!" Malfoy squeaked from underneath Siri's body. "Get me out from here!"

"Very well." Voldemort flicked his wrist at Malfoy, ripping him from the bonds Sirius had set, pulling his hands off. The blond screamed like a banshee and looked at the stumps of his arms.

Harry couldn't pull his eyes away from the scene, like Muggles at a train wreck. He was numb inside - so numb it was as if he was miles away, galaxies away even.

"Why Master?" Malfoy whined as blood spurted from his arms. "Heal me, _please_."

Harry turned watery eyes back to Voldemort. The dark bastard was taking obvious pleasure in Malfoy's bleeding to death, refusing to answer the blond's pleas for help. He would do the same thing for Harry's bleeding and torn out heart, even as it spread to the far reaches of the universe.

He wasn't about to let that happen, Harry thought as an awful, encompassing feeling came to him. It was how he felt a year ago, as he stood in front of Voldemort, trying to curse Bellatrix Lestrange for killing Sirius. This chilling, raw power of despair and the hope that they could be reunited once more, that he would overcome all obstacles in his way to get to Sirius, even death.

Harry was going to finish this once and for all, even if... no, especially if it killed him.

Harry tightened his grip on his wand as he watched Voldemort watch Malfoy take his last breath, dead from blood loss. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he should have tried to help Malfoy get away from Voldemort, but there was something about this entire situation that had stopped him. However, Draco Malfoy had been made from the same mold as his father, Lucius. There was nothing there to save.

Voldemort finally turned to Harry, amusement plainly written on his disfigured face. "I see you didn't try to save your schoolmate, Potter. Too scared to do it? Or are you happy to see your enemy is gone?"

"Like you would really miss him, bastard," Harry spat out.

Voldemort actually _tsked_. "Language," he said, before waving his wand at Harry. He felt a whisper of magic try to swarm him, but Harry was having nothing of it.

"Try your party tricks elsewhere, Tommy Boy."

The dark bastard looked shocked, pleasing Harry. As Voldemort recovered, Harry sent a wave of magic himself, but this was directed where Sirius' body lay. His body vanished from view as Harry sent it to the infirmary at Hogwarts. He also sent Malfoy's body, almost as an afterthought.

"What did you do, boy?!" Voldemort demanded to know. Spittle flew from the corner of his mouth.

Harry smirked as he remembered Snape doing the same thing when he had confronted Dumbledore in the hospital wing after Harry had rescued Sirius with the help of Hermione and Buckbeak. It made him think that this would finally be his chance to go home with Sirius.

He closed his eyes, keeping that one thought - that he and Sirius would be reunited after all this was over - revolving around his head as he gathered all of his magic. He thought back to that book he'd read before the school year, where the wizard had created a green flamed torch that would burn brightly forever, where he only needed his own magic, and not that of a phoenix. He had reread that book several times, hoping that it would be more than just some novel written an age before Hogwarts was founded.

Now, he realized, it wasn't a novel, and that there was a great chance that he wouldn't make it through to the end. It was too late for second thoughts, though. He was determined to finish this.

Once what magic of his that he could gather was all in a sphere surrounding him, he looked at Voldemort. The bastard had begun to do the same, but where Harry's sphere was green - a bright green that made him think of the eye color his mother had given him - Voldemort's was a sickly black with dark purple streaks running through it. The green reminded Harry of the trees he could see off into the distance and of the lush lawn that spread around Hogwarts. He had once found that walking barefoot in the grass had sent shocks through him, as he felt the magic that was an integral part of every living thing. Now he would use that magic to rid the earth of filth like Voldemort was. It was the green that had protected him in the Potions classroom, when the explosion should have killed him.

Harry then began pulling the natural magic out of anything nearby. He could feel the clean and pure energy of what grass had survived, and the strangely calming energy of the wild sage and honeysuckle that grew around the edge of the scarred field. Mixed into this was the feeling of dark, hateful magic that he guessed was that of the Death Eaters who had fallen, and then there was the oddly mixed magic on the outer edges. Harry spared the tiniest bit of magic and sent whatever produced it away, sending anything that resembled good, human magic away, incase anyone else had come looking for them. He hoped it was Remus, for what he had planned would rip him apart with the backlash. The grass and plants would grow again, but human bodies wouldn't. Well, what he hoped would happen. Because he was most definitely flying by the seat of his pants. After all, this wasn't exactly the same scenario as the book.

Besides, it all boiled down to him and Voldemort.

"That's not enough power, boy," Voldemort's voice came muffled, as if it had traveled through an ocean of water.

Harry glared at him, letting the magic overtake him. In the distance he could hear the air begin to move in time with his heartbeats, a three-quarter movement like the waltz he and Siri had tried to dance to in the Room of Requirements, tripping over each other to land one on top of another, the perfect situation for a kiss.

A pang resounded within him, in the region where his shattered heart had once resided, as he thought of Sirius.

With the pang came the overwhelming pressure of magic, which he let consume him. Nature had brought him here, and he was going to let it take him away.

* * *

000000

The first thing he became conscious of was that he was in pain. Second, he noticed that someone was groaning, and he realized it was most likely him. There was a soothing noise near his ear, followed by a lull in the pain that was most welcome. It flowed through with a cooling wave, calming his fevered flesh. He sighed with relief.

"Are you waking up now?"

He turned towards the sound, trying to open his eyes. It felt like lead weights had been attached to his eyelids, he could hardly open them. Light hit him with the force of a bludger and he let his lids slam closed.

"I'll dim the lights, okay? Give me a couple more seconds until this spell is finished."

This time he could tell that it was a male voice, but it didn't sound like Harry. He scrunched his eyes shut, wondering where Harry was before going into a panic if he was okay and what exactly had happened on that barren and scarred field.

"Harry?" Sirius managed to croak out. He started to choke as he coughed, his throat seizing up on the last syllable. He felt a cup brought to his lips and a cool liquid rush over them and into his mouth, relaxing his muscles. Sputtering one last time, he pried his eyes open and saw a blurry face next to him.

"Are you all right, Sirius?" the face asked as he blinked.

Sirius blinked a few more times and the face resolved into a very worried looking Remus. "Harry?" he got out again, but he didn't cough or choke this time.

Remus' frown grew deeper, sending panic through Sirius' veins again. It must have shown because his old friend shook his head.

"He's alive, Sirius," Remus finally said in a thick voice. "But barely, at that. He used almost all of his magic and life energy."

"How?"

Remus shook his head. "We're not sure, Sirius. He showed up about two hours ago, but even Albus doesn't know how he got through the wards. We _do_ know, however, that Voldemort is dead. Severus' Mark has disappeared, and Albus checked it to make sure."

Sirius nodded, but wasn't all that sure he understood what Remus was saying. He was rather stuck on the 'Harry's barely alive' bit.

"Where?"

"Sirius."

He looked at his friend.

"Let's get Poppy to check you out. Then I'll wheel you over to Harry's bed if she gives the okay."

"Go anyway." Sirius wished he could say more, but whatever that potion was, it wasn't letting him say much at all.

Remus grinned. "I know you'll try. But let Poppy check you over, and you can tell Harry the good news."

He nodded, and Remus went through the curtains Sirius noticed were hung around the bed. He was curious to know why, but he was more anxious for the school's mediwitch to check him out so that he could go see Harry.

"I was quite surprised to see you like this," Poppy said as soon as the curtains were shut behind her and Remus. "It was a bit of a shock to have the patient you were in the middle of working on suddenly turned into a supposedly dead man."

Sirius turned a bewildered look at Remus. "What?"

"You gave him a Relaxer then?" Poppy asked Remus before turning her full attention on Sirius, muttering spells under her breath.

"Yes," Remus replied. "Sirius, you showed up here laying on top of a dead Draco Malfoy from all reports."

Sirius grunted, but couldn't get anything else out at Poppy was examining his throat.

"You were in stasis, Mr. Black. And don't move a muscle," the nurse commanded.

Remus looked guilty for a second, and Sirius wanted to laugh at him.

"Poppy couldn't get you out of it, so she had me come over and help. It wasn't much, and I had just arrived from the field - Harry again, but I'm not sure how he did it - seeing as how I can only do basic healing charms. Not like you, though."

Sirius grinned.

"Just when she's about to call Dumbledore, it's chaos all of a sudden. There's a faint hint of green around you, and you're turning into you. Well, the one you were born as. Snape's on the floor and the same green light around you is coming from his arm. Then Harry appears out of nowhere in the same light, but he's sucking the light that came from you and Severus into himself."

Poppy patted him on the shoulder, as he tried to digest everything. "You're fine, Mr. Black. But I do want to see you in a week or if you have any problems, which ever comes first. It's not every day I get to see someone who has been hit by the killing curse and lived."

Sirius dumbly watched Poppy leave the curtained area. He turned to Remus. "What?" he asked incredulously. "What was she talking about? I was hit by what?" He didn't wait for his friend to answer. "You can tell me after you take me to Harry."

Remus gave a mock, put-upon sigh before leaving through the curtains. "I'll go get a chair."

Sirius let himself relax for the tiniest instant before tensing. All of this information was being thrown at him with alarming speed. He knew that it would take a while before he could assimilate it all, and he would really like to run it by Harry. Together they could get through anything.

But they had to do it together. And for that, he needed to see Harry.

Remus came in guiding a chair with his wand. "This is the best I can do for the moment. Poppy only has one wheeled chair, and it's being used at the moment." He looked at Sirius after situating the chair next to the bed. "Do you want to go through the infirmary as Sirius Black or Siri Greystone?"

He shook his head. "Sirius Black can't come back from the dead yet."

"Why not?" Remus asked. "You've been cleared, pardoned even."

Sirius shrugged. "I don't trust Fudge. He's likely to come barging in and start demanding to know why there's a dead man in bed with The-Boy-Who-Lived, and it's the boy in question's godfather, no less."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "You're not in bed with Harry, you letch."

Sirius grinned, so very glad that Remus had accepted his relationship with Harry so long ago. "I will be." The grin faded as he said, "I need to let him know that I'm here like I said I would be."

The other man nodded and then waved his wand at Sirius, changing him back to Siri Greystone. It wasn't as seamless as when Harry had changed him, but then again, nothing would. Remus finished with the appearance charm before directing the hovering charm at the chair.

Past the curtains was a wall of noise. All of the beds were full, with many professors acting as assistants to Poppy. The patients were mainly students that had been on the train, but he saw a couple of red haired patients as well, meaning that some of the others were members of the Order. As the chair floated down to the private room Harry had used the last two times he'd 'visited' the hospital wing, Sirius was attacked by a sudden case of panic.

What if Harry never woke up? How would he be able to go on without him? For so long, Sirius had lived for Harry in one capacity or another. Harry was the reason he had gone on living when he'd been born, and he didn't want to lose that reason.

* * *

000000

He wasn't sure what woke him first, but Sirius was elated that there were signs that Harry was returning to consciousness. It was too dark for him to see what was happening, and he didn't want to take the chance of waking him up if he wasn't already.

The last week had been both easy and hard for him to deal with. Easy, because he'd basically slept next to the comatose teen and wasn't disturbed by anyone other than Poppy and Remus. Dumbledore had stopped by once, that first day, but had been kept busy by the Ministry and Order for cleanup.

Watching Harry had been the hardest thing Sirius had ever done. It was harder than deciding to be the decoy for the Fidelis Charm, and harder than finding the will to go on in the middle of the freezing North Sea as he escaped from Azkaban. He'd had to wait patiently - which he didn't do well, at all - and gently encourage Harry to awaken. Sirius had barely listened as Poppy had explained that sometimes the body shuts down when it needed to, regardless of what the mind told it. She had told him that, whatever it was that Harry had done to defeat He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, it had probably left him mentally exhausted, and not just physically. She had given him hope, because Harry's continued deep sleep meant that he hadn't given up on life yet, most likely because Sirius hadn't left his side.

"Siri?" a sibilant hiss next to Sirius brought him out of his thoughts.

"I'm here, Harry," he reassured in the darkness. "I'm here. I haven't left you."

Sirius could almost hear Harry's frown as he said, "you're still here. I... I thought I lost you...."

"You didn't lose me, Har-bear."

Harry gave a raspy chuckle of laughter. "Don't call me that."

Sirius pulled his arms tight around Harry. "I should call Poppy in, now that you're awake. But I don't want to leave you."

The sound of the door shutting, then the lights coming up to a soft dim, brought both of their attentions to the doorway. "Don't worry about leaving Mr. Potter alone, Mr. Black," the mediwitch said as she moved towards the bed. She was wearing her apron over a fuzzy bathrobe that had a little bunny shape on the left breast. The picture set off images of teenage boys looking lover things teenage boys shouldn't have been able to buy at Muggle bookshops thanks to Aging charms. He tried to hold back a smirk, but didn't succeed.

"I don't want to hear what you are thinking, Mr. Black." Poppy glared at him. "Now, I will need for you to unwrap yourself from around Mr. Potter. You will interfere with my readings if you are touching."

Sirius grinned and gingerly - and comically - pulled away.

"I don't understand," Harry said as the lights went up a little more and he looked into Sirius' eyes. "What happened? Mr. Black?"

Poppy shushed him. "In the morning, now, dear. I'll check you over, and in the morning Professor Dumbledore can come and visit. I want you to rest - " here she glared at Siri again - "and don't worry about what happened. You concentrate on healing."


	13. Epilogue

This is it! The last part of the story. I hope you enjoyed reading it.

If you automatically jumped to this chapter, and you haven't read this story in a while, why are you here? Turn back to Chapter 11! You're missing a big part of the story!

* * *

Epilogue

It had turned out that there had indeed been one witness to the battle between Harry and Voldemort - a Muggle who had been out walking his dog. His family had tried to have him committed when he told them of a crazy story, where a teenage boy fought against a monster with oddly colored light. Luckily, a Squib that lived down the streetheard of the story and had contacted his cousin, Molly Weasley. He may have been just a Squib accountant, but William James Prewitt knew when magic of that magnitude was real.

The Weasleys had then contacted Dumbledore, who had been trying to reconstruct the entire thing from Harry's sketchy memory.

When Harry had been deemed fit, both the Order and Ministry had descended upon Hogwarts to find out just what happened. They were disappointed to find out that Harry had no memory of anything that happened after gathering his magic. Even then, most of them had questions about how he had done so, since it wasn't anything that anyone had heard of since the days of the Founders of the school.

Fudge, in particular, had been adamant about finding outwhat exactly had happened.

Madam Pomfrey had called in a couple of Healers from St. Mungo's for a second opinion, and they all agreed that it was very likely Harry would never remember. Traumatic experiences often left scars on the mind, and the battle had been very traumatic for all involved. It was especially so for Harry, who had also had the trauma of watching Siri be engulfed by the Killing Curse.

Which had brought all manner of questions as to how Siri had survived.

The official statement that went out was that, because Harry and Siri were together, Harry had wrapped several protecting wards around Siri to keep him safe. Being very powerful, it was enough to keep the Killing Curse from actually killing him, putting him into a type of stasis, instead. The Order knew differently, but weren't about to say anything other than among themselves.

The Muggle, one Weston G. Martin, had recounted a story that Fudge had reluctantly agree was the truth, even if Veritaserum couldn't be used on a non-magical person. The Minister had also been very reticent to accept the healers' opinions on Harry's memory loss, but that was nothing new.

Mr. Martin had described a greenish haze that had covered the field when he first saw it. He had commented on the fact that, after the haze was gone, he had realizedthe fieldwas covered in dark-robe-covered bodies. The man had said that he could feel the evilness oozing off of them even now, as if they had been plugged into some sort of socket. None of the Ministry members had gotten this reference, but Arthur Weasley had gotten a big kick out of it, while those familiar with Muggle technology had laughed at the comparison.

In the middle of the field, Mr. Martin had seen Harry and Voldemort, whom he had described as being exactly like a biblical painting of the devil. He told of the shields each had conjured, Harry's actually drawing the haze that had covered the field. Then, as if choreographed, each had drawn the shield into a ball held between their hands in front of their chests. Voldemort's ball had been loose - very loose compared to Harry's.

_"That boy's ball of light was packed like an ice ball," Mr. Martin had proclaimed. "That boy then split it in two and the light wrapped around his hands. That scary guy looked frightened when he raised his hands, and it looked to me as if he held two torches - green flames coming from them like the old kind of torches that they used in King Arthur's time._

_"Then he swiped one as the old demon thing and it almost knock the black light from his hands. It didn't quite fall, so the scary guy - what was his name, anyway? - he swipes back and managed to catch the boy's hand._

_"The boy almost falls over before regaining his balance and _pulls_ the black light from the Scary Guy's hands. That makes the old guy freak out, I don't know how else to describe it." Mr. Martin had shrugged at that. "Anyway, the boy just takes that black light and pushes at it with both hands, squeezing it smaller and smaller. The demon guy tries to take it back before it gone, but only manages to kick the boy a couple of times and punch himself in the face when his hand slips off the boy's arm. The boy - Harry, was it? - keeps on squeezing that black light until nothing's between his hands but air. _That's_ when the scary guy just seems to fold into himself and disappears in a poof of green fire, the same color as the light. Then he just disappeared himself, but this was with a loud bang."_

"What're you thinking about?" a voice asked him, startling him from his musings.

He turned to find Sirius studying him closely. Harry smiled in reassurance, moving forward in the window seat as Sirius moved to sit behind him. He snuggled into the other man's arms, content in the warmth that radiated from him.

"About the last battle," he finally answered.

Siri chuckled, and Harry could feel it rumble against his back. "I like remembering Fudge's expression when that Muggle told the Wizengamot that Voldemort imploded - that nice mix of disgust and disbelief."

"Mm. I liked when he told how old Voldie punched himself." Harry laughed as Sirius broke out into a big case of the chuckles. "Only the old idiots who still backed Fudge didn't laugh at that."

"Amazing, isn't it" Sirius asked, "That all it took was the love you have for me to destroy the bastard?"

Harry twisted enough to look into Siri's eyes. "Not really. No."

Sirius scrunched his brows together. "What?"

He reached a hand back and caressed a cheek that was already getting prickly this early in the evening. "It's not amazing that that is what it took. It's amazing that we _love_ and not what that love managed to do."

Harry shifted a little when Sirius didn't answer.

"Too sappy?" he asked.

Siri shook his head. "No," he said in a choked voice. He hugged Harry tighter to him, almost squeezing the breath out of him. "Just perfect."

Harry turned all the way around and sat with his legs hanging over Sirius' thighs. "I love you."

Sirius grinned. "I know." The grin turned impish. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to say 'I love you' back?"

Green eyes narrowed and blue eyes flashed back. Then both set of eyes closed and they leaned towards one another and brushed lips.

"You aren't going to kiss, are you?" a disgusted - and boyish - voice said from the doorway.

Both men turned to find two redheaded children, with intelligent brown eyes, standing in the doorway.

The girl sniffed as she held onto her younger brother's hand. "Dad said we should have you tell a story so that he can get Mum off to St. Mungo's, finally."

Harry shared a smile with Sirius. Hermione was competing with her mother-in-law in how many babies she could pop out in as little time as possible. Number five was on its way, which was why Harry and Sirius had come to the Burrow to help Molly and Hermione's mothercare for the four already here. His friends had married two months out of school, and nine months after that, Rosemary had appeared, followed by William - who were the twostanding in the doorway - then Marissa, who was still having problems with potty training, and Forest, who was only thirteen months old and was currently enjoying being held by one grandmother right after another.

"Uncle Harry?" William asked as he climbed in between Harry and Sirius on the window seat in the den that overlooked the pond in back of the Burrow.

"What is it, Will?"

Rosemary snorted. "Mum'll kill you if you call William that, Uncle Harry."

"No she won't," Harry said as he carefully pulled back from Sirius and sat on the window seat in the manner it was created for, pulling the little girl onto his lap.

Sirius tickled the little boy, "little boys shouldn't have such long names," he said as William tried to pull away from the marauding fingers. He eventually stopped when the little boy was breathless.

"Uncle Harry?" William asked in a winded voice. "Will you tell us about your wedding again?"

Harry and Sirius shared a look, trying not to burst out into laughter. Their wedding had been a three-ring circus right from the initial announcement that they were going to wed. Consequently, both children loved the story because it had everything from ranting mother-in-laws (their very own Grandma Molly) to werewolves trying to chase snarky potions masters and bed them, to the Minister... well, former Minister trying to stop the wedding altogether.

"Let's save that story for another day, okay, Will?" Harry said as a commotion stirred on the lawn.

All four looked out the window in time to see Percy Weasley get dumped into the pond by his _very_ pregnant wife, Penelope. On the banks, Fred and George were laughing uproariously, before being chased by Penelope and getting dumped into the cool water themselves.

"For now we need to go rescue your other uncles."

* * *

000000

Fin.

AN: I am thinking of writing the story of Harry and Sirius' wedding, but it won't come out any time soon. I want to finish _Gifts_ first. But, if you have any ideas of what you'd like to see in the story, let me know, and I'll try to incorporate it into the story.


End file.
